P400 M allotted for juvenile justice law

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said P400 million has been allotted to ensure the full implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the fund will most likely be used to set up intensive juvenile intervention and support centers or Bahay Pag-Asa around the country where children in conflict with the law will be reformed and detained.

“We will identify provinces or urban centers with a high number of children in conflict with the law and prioritize the building in these areas,” Soliman told reporters at the ceremonial signing last Monday of the revised implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 as amended by RA 10630, the Act Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System in the Philippines.

Soliman led the signing as chairperson of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council.

She said the event was “another milestone in our goal to establish a better restorative juvenile justice system in the country for the promotion and protection of the welfare of children at risk and children in conflict with the law.”

Soliman said an important amendment to the law is the provision of a comprehensive and effective juvenile intervention program that aims to reduce the involvement of children in crimes.

“The establishment of an intervention and support center for children under the minimum age of criminal responsibility is one of the key enhancements in the law,” she said.

Bahay Pag-Asa is a 24-hour residential facility that provides temporary care and serves as a rehabilitation center for children in conflict with the law instead of jails.

Currently, there are eight operational and 10 constructed Bahay Pag-Asa in various regions.

Soliman said the strengthened law retained the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15 as stipulated in RA 9344.

She, however, said that under the new law, the specific treatment, process and intervention program to be administered to children who committed a crime but cannot be criminally charged is made clear.

This is to ensure that they are made aware of their accountability and to dispel any misconception that erring children are not held liable for their actions, she said.

The ceremonial signing also marked the transfer of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council supervision from the Department of Justice to the DSWD as an attached agency.