Protection for jailed mothers, kids pressed

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a bill calling for the protection and assistance to jailed mothers and their children.

Senate Bill No. 2087, or the Mothers in Jail Act, seeks to provide protection and aid to women and their offspring from the time the women are put on trial until they are jailed upon conviction.

The proposed bill would require the courts to warn women facing trial of the consequences to their parental rights if they plead guilty or are convicted of a crime.

The courts would also be mandated to provide these women with a reasonable amount of time to attend to the needs of their children for safe and appropriate care prior to pleading guilty or being incarcerated.

With the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the courts are required to explain the various placement and guardianship options available to the affected mothers.

"Because women tend to be the primary caregivers of their children, imprisonment affects both the mother and her children profoundly," Santiago said.

"The absence of incarcerated mothers in the rearing of their children may contribute to the delinquency of the children," the lawmaker added.

Once passed, the bill calls for the creation of a coordinating body composed of representatives from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Corrections, DSWD and the Department of Health.

According to Santiago, the coordinating body is tasked to provide specific procedures for the placement of children of mothers on trial or infants born to women already in prison.

The body will also establish programs designed to provide counseling, health care and other social services to incarcerated mothers and their children.

Santiago said special attention should be given to infants staying with their mothers in jail.

She said they must be given access to health care services, medicine, reproductive health care, medical attention and gynecological and pediatric services.

Child-friendly visitation rooms inside the country’s prisons are also being pushed by the senator.

"For children, not having their mother beside them while they are growing up is difficult enough. I want to ensure that when they visit their mother, they can at least have the quality time that circumstances will allow," Santiago stressed.

Unannounced periodical visits by human rights non-government organizations and international organizations to the prisons would also be allowed in order to monitor the compliance of prison administrators to the law.

The representatives of these organizations would be allowed to speak with the jailed mothers and their children. — Marvin Sy