Monday, June 16, 2008
Maambong backs bill vs. abuse of children
A PROVINCIAL Board (PB) Member supports House Bill (HB) 3076 that seeks to protect children from abusive parents or guardian.
PB Member Victor Maambong said abuse against children has “devastating effects” on their future.
HB 3076, or Anti-Neglected Children Act of 2007, calls for government intervention in cases of abuses committed against children by their parents or guardians.
The list of abuses against children includes excessive corporal punishment and exposing them to illegal drugs or alcohol.
If proven guilty, parents or guardians will lose their rights to the child. The victim will be turned over to a social welfare agency.
“Neglect, maltreatment, and abuse can have devastating effects upon a child’s holistic development, which may later affect, with great consequence, (his) health, growth and intellectual development, social and emotional behavior, parenting skills and economic productivity,” said Maambong in his motion.
Earlier, Rep. Monica Prieto-Teodoro (Tarlac City, 5th district) also filed House Bill 682 seeking to prohibit and penalize the use of corporal punishment on children.
Mental violence
The bill also amends Republic Act 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
Known as “The Anti-Corporal Punishment Law of 2007,” House Bill 682 redefines corporal punishment as an infliction of physical and mental violence upon children as form of punishment or chastisement.
The revised definition also includes any form of public humiliation, verbal abuse and other abusive and degrading means.
The bill provides that any parent, ascendant, teacher, or guardian, who uses corporal punishment, whether verbal, physical, mental or psychological, can be punished under the law.
House Bill 682 also protects students from abusive punishments from teachers and other academic authorities, regardless of when or where corporal punishment was executed.
If approved, the bill can send the guilty to jail.
Harsher punishments also await violators who may inflict psychological damage to a child, such as the loss of speech, hearing, smell and other traumatic effects. (GMD) |
