RP Passes Law to Keep Children Out of Jails

First posted 03:45pm (Mla time) Mar 21, 2006
By Agence France-Presse

THE PHILIPPINE Congress on Tuesday approved a law aimed at keeping children
below 15 years old out of jails.

The bill was rushed through after the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) late
last year said that an estimated 4,000 children, some as young as nine, were
languishing in Philippine jails, many of them mixed with adults.

The Juvenile Justice Bill was approved by a bicameral committee of the Senate and
the House of Representatives and will immediately be sent for signing by President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, officials said.

Under the law, children caught committing crimes will be turned over to a welfare
council to be created under the social welfare ministry.

Those between 15 and 18 years old can only be criminally charged if it is proven that
they committed the act with full knowledge that it was a crime.

UNICEF had said children as young as nine were arrested and detained for long
periods of time while awaiting resolution of their cases for minor offences.

"The task of instituting a comprehensive system to address juvenile delinquents
locked up in adult jails proved long and complex, but we are finally getting there,"
said Francisco Pangilinan, majority floor leader in the Senate.

"The plight of children in conflict with the law has finally seen some light now that the
bicameral panel has approved the measure," he said.