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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Mgt. body, council seek minors’ move
Felons or criminal offenders who look like minors should be sent to the juvenile detention facility in Barangay Kalunasan instead of the Cebu City.
That is the recommendation of the management board of the Operation Second Chance after it was found that some minors were committed to the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC), where they are mixed with adults and hardened criminals.
A meeting attended by Operation Second Chance Project co-chairpersons Margot Osmeña and Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Olegario Sarmiento Jr., other judges, nongovernment organizations, social workers and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology was held yesterday.
City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, a lawyer and chairman of the Cebu City Commission for the Welfare and Protection of Children, was tasked to file a motion to ask for the transfer of all minors to the juvenile detention cell.
With the new law that will keep minors away from jail, cases of children 15 years old and below at the time of the commission of the crime will immediately be dismissed.
New law
The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 also raises the age of criminal responsibility to 15, from nine as provided in existing laws. A child between 15 and 18 can be charged only if he committed the act, knowing that it was a crime.
After noting violations of the rules in handling minor offenders, the City Council requested RTC Executive Judge Simeon Dumdum to order the transfer of all 13 minor inmates at BBRC to Operation Second Chance.
The council yesterday passed a resolution that also asked Judge Dumdum to transfer the cases of the minors from the various courts to the family courts, in accordance with the law.
Carillo proposed the resolution in a privilege speech after receiving a copy of the report on the alleged lapses of barangay tanods, policemen and court workers.
During the session, the council also asked the Philippine National Police hierarchy to look into the wrongdoings of policemen in the arrest of the children.
The council learned that among other violations of the procedures in handling minor offenders, the children were not referred to social workers and the PNP women and children’s section.
They also asked the Cebu City Commission for the Welfare and Protection of Children to investigate the reports of the alleged violation.
“We were surprised that there are still minors at BBRC because we thought all along that this problem has already been addressed. It is also disturbing because we already set the procedures for the arrest of minors and yet this is still happening,” Carillo said in his speech.
Task force
According to fact-finding report of the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, the common reasons minors are detained at the BBRC are either they are forced to say they are already 18 years old by the arresting officers or an honest mistake on the part of the court in the issuance of the commitment order.
If proven that policemen force suspects to admit they are adults despite being minors, Osmeña recommended an appropriate sanction against the officer. One such penalty is the withdrawal of the policeman’s allowance.
“We will follow the law that minors in conflict with the law be put in a separate detention facility to prevent mixing with adult offenders. We don’t want that the recent incident will be repeated,” Judge Sarmiento said.
After purging the lists of minors who are detained at the BBRC, Jail Warden Efren Nemeño reported that there are only 13 minors in their custody, and not 17 as earlier reported by Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Three of the minors were already transferred to Operation Second Chance in Kalunasan through the intervention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu City Chapter.
The Cebu City Task Force on Street Children commissioned its member-NGO Free Lava to come up with a detailed report on the case of each child, which will be forwarded to Mayor Osmeña for action.
Free Lava found out that a 15-year-old inmate developed a skin disease, reportedly because of the extreme heat and poor ventilation in his cell.
Names of the arresting officers and police escorts who allegedly forced the offenders to say they are 18 years old, as well as the names of the court workers who prepared the committal orders, were indicated in the report.
In a memorandum addressed to Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Regional Director Benito Dorigo, Nemeño said they have not been remiss in seeking the transfer of some inmates who they believe are still minors.
Aside from finding ways to secure the birth certificates of the children, they have also tried to coordinate with the parents for the latter to follow up the case of their sons. (LCR/JGA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 18, 2006 issue)
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