Children’s welfare and protection is one of the advocacies closest to my heart because I believe in the immense power of the youth to make this world a better place. The famous English writer Aldous Huxley once said, “Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”
We were all kids once in our life who dreamt of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a teacher, a businessman or a writer someday. This is why I always encourage young people to optimize their potentials and use them to their advantage and to the advantage of their families and the community.
However, juvenile delinquency persists in the Philippines. We have read, heard or watch news about streetchildren falling prey to gang syndicates, drug addiction and prostitution. There is an immediate need to understand and address the problems of our children today and to solve these issues systematically.
And this is what the Child Protection Network (CPN) Foundation is doing right now as it organizes the fourth Ako Para Sa Bata Manila Conference with the theme Battling “Bad” Behaviors: Enabling Adults to Respond Positively and Effectively to Children. The event will be held on Dec. 5 to 7 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City. The conference focuses on the context of behaviors of children and adolescents, the cause of such behaviors, the various ways to the behavior and the guidelines to prevent the escalation of “bad” behavior.
Lawyer Katrina Legarda, consultant to the board and the director for National Network for Child Protection Units, explains, “The theme for this year’s conference is Battling ‘Bad’ Behaviors: Enabling Adults to Respond Positively and Effectively to Children. The theme is timely, given the strong clamor for the amendment of Republic Act 9344, otherwise known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, and the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility. The Manila Conference seeks to educate parents and professionals that ‘bad behaviors’ can be positively responded to before the situation worsens and the child ends up as a child in conflict with the law (CICL).”
She further adds that parenting is not the sole responsibility of the biological parents but the entire community’s collective responsibility.
“We have to be reminded that just like the rest of the world, the Philippines will always have its fair share of minor offenders and CICLs. But before a child becomes a CICL and graduates as a hardened adult criminal, preventive interventions must be identified and put in place to give every child a chance to become a productive member of this community,” she says.
CPN is composed of professionals and individuals who are dedicated to ensure that all children in the Philippines are protected from the many faces of abuse. Doctors, lawyers and volunteers across 52 Child Protection Units (CPUs) throughout the country work hand in hand towards this goal. Proceeds of this event will help support the establishment of at least one CPU in each province.
According to Dr. Bernadette Madrid, conference president and executive director of CPN, “CPN not only serves abused children with compassion and competence but also focuses on training physicians, social workers, policemen, judges and other stakeholders in the community to ensure that they can also effectively handle abused children and children at risk. Thus, we are encouraging everyone to register and be part of the Ako Para Sa Bata Manila Conference!”
Ako Para Sa Bata (I Am For The Child) Manila Conference started in 2007 when the Philippines, through the CPN Foundation, hosted the Asian Regional Conference of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). The first conference drew 777 national and international delegates. In 2010, there were 650 participants who discussed issues related to the theme The Emotional Health of Your Child while in 2011, the theme was about Creating Safe and Caring Environments for Children which brought together 750 delegates.
Ako Para Sa Bata Manila Conference is co-presented by Hi-Smart Multivitamins. The registration fee for the main conference is P3,000 for two days which includes meals. To confirm your participation, call the Child Protection Network Foundation, c/o Tere Clemente at tel. no. (632) 404-3954, fax no. (632) 404-3955, or e-mail: manilacanconference@yahoo.com.
If your vote is for your child, be part of this.