Duterte vetoes ‘overly sweeping’ bill prohibiting corporal punishment

MANILA, Philippines — Finding the measure “overly sweeping,” President Duterte has vetoed a bill that seeks to prohibit parents from spanking (palo) or imposing other forms of corporal punishment on children to discipline them.

Documents released by Malacañang yesterday showed that Duterte vetoed the measure on Feb. 23.

The bill aims to promote positive and non-violent disciplinary measures to protect children from physical, humiliating or degrading forms of punishment. 

Acts prohibited by the bill include kicking, beating and slapping as well as non-physical forms of violence such as cursing and embarrassing a child in public.

Duterte said responsible parents should administer corporal punishment in a self-restrained manner, so the children remember it not as “an act of hate or abuse” but “a loving act of discipline meant to uphold their welfare.” 

“I believe as much as Congress does that every child should be protected from humiliating forms of punishment. It is a salutary piece of legislation,” the President said. 

 “However, I am gravely concerned that the bill goes much further than this act as it would prohibit all forms of corporal punishment, humiliating or not, including those done within the confines of the family home. I do not share such an overly sweeping  condemnation of the practice,” he added. 

Duterte said restrained corporal punishment has given rise to “beneficial results” for society, with “countless children having been raised up to become law-abiding citizens with respect for authority structures in the wider community.”

“Regrettably, this bill places such responsible disciplining of children in the same category as humiliating and degrading forms of punishment and condemns them all in one broad stroke,” he said.

“Making no distinctions, the bill would allow the government to extend its reach into the privacy of the family, authorizing measures aimed at suppressing corporal punishment regardless of how carefully it is practiced,” Duterte added. 

He said the bill would transgress the proper boundaries of state intervention in the life of the family, whose sanctity and autonomy are recognized by the Constitution. 

Duterte said the Philippines should resist the growing trend prevalent in western nations that sees all forms of corporal punishment as an outdated form of disciplining children.

He said cultural trends in other countries are not necessarily healthy for the Philippines. 

“I strongly believe that we should resist this trend in favor of a more balanced and nuanced approach, one that is both protective of the child as well as cognizant of the prerogatives of devoted parents who believe in the merits of corporal punishment rightly administered,” the President said.  

“To uncritically follow the lead of these countries, especially in matters as significant as the family, would be a great disservice to the succeeding generations,” Duterte added.