Friday, September 27, 2002
Parents liable for deaths
By Grecar Nilles & Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
THE parents of the children who were left at home and died during fires are criminally liable for the death of their children, if the law is to be enforced strictly. However, Regional Trial Court Branch 22 Judge Pampio Abarintos said he has not yet read any Supreme Court jurisprudence convicting a parent for such an act.
“Legally, the parents can be held liable for child abuse, but we still have to investigate if they intentionally neglected the children. Then, we have to evaluate the facts and circumstances carefully so we can make proper assessments,” said legal consultant Gerardo Carillo of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in a separate interview.
No intent
“If there’s no intent to harm the children, I would not advice the filing of a complaint against the parents,” said Children’s Legal Bureau lawyer Joan Saniel.
The parents may be charged with neglect, which is punishable under Presidential Decree (PD) 603, or the Child and Youth Welfare Code. Article 46 states parents should give their children affection, companionship and understanding, and supervise their activities, including recreation.
Under Paragraph 2, Article 59, abandoning the child so as to deprive him of the love, care and the protection he needs is a crime.
A parent who is found guilty of the charge may land in jail for two to six months or be fined a maximum of P500, or both, unless a higher penalty is provided for in the Revised Penal Code.
But, in most cases, Judge Abarintos said the “compassionate” side of the law in dealing with such cases comes into play.
“It would be more unjust to convict the parents, who for financial reasons left their child at home to look for money to feed them,” Abarintos said.
Recently, six children, whose ages range from 11 months to 6 years old, were burned to death because their parents left them alone in their homes to do errands or to get food.
Police and fire officials, however, are not keen on suing parents of the children who died in Consolacion, Toledo City and Asturias.
Although DSWD 7 will not conduct its own investigation on the fire incidents, Carillo said social workers will validate the findings of the police’s investigation so that they will know what actions to take.
Reasons
Saniel said some things have to be considered before raising a child abuse complaint against parents who are accused of neglecting their children, including reasons for the alleged neglect.
In the case of parents who left their children to look for a job, there may be a reason to excuse parents for their actions.
Gross neglect of parents, however, such as those who leave their children for no reason at all or those who lock up their children as a punishment shall be held for child abuse, Saniel said.
“Whether the parents’ reasons for neglecting their children can be excused or not is the discretion of the court. If the parents do not have a good reason for neglecting the children, then it will be easy to cite them for child abuse,” the lawyer added. |
