PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed a proposed measure to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment.
“May personal stand siya. Ayaw ni Presidente. Reading ko lang sa kanya (He has his personal views. The President doesn’t like it. That’s my reading),” said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Former special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go said the President has “valid reasons” for rejecting the bill.
“Kilala ko po si Pangulong Duterte bilang mapagmahal na ama at hindi niya gustong makaranas ng anumang klase ng parusa ang mga bata na makakasama sa kanila (I know the President as a loving father and he doesn’t want children to go through anything that is not good for children),” Go said.
The proposed measure seeks a ban on any form of punishment for children using physical force or any non-physical act that belittles, threatens and ridicules children.
In his veto message, the President made clear that he is aware of growing trends in Western nations that see corporal punishment as an “outdated form of disciplining children.” The President would rather favor a “balanced, more nuanced approach” that also recognizes the rights of parents to discipline their children their own way.
Go said the executive might have taken cognizance of Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution that states that “the natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the government.”
The views apparently see the issue of corporal punishment merely as a domestic concern and not a public one, and that government should draw the line somewhere to let parents be as far as raising their children is concerned.
But that misses the whole point of the proposed measure. Corporal punishment is defined as any form of physical punishment, common examples of which are caning and flogging.
While there is a slew of researches proving lasting harm on children getting corporal punishment from parents, teachers and carers, this should not distract us from something more basic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children sees the issue of corporal punishment as a human right issue, that corporal punishment is but another form of violence committed on children.
“Violence is now widely recognized as a public health problem and the huge scale of violence against children is coming to be understood. Corporal punishment has been acknowledged by Unicef and the United Nations Secretary General’s study on violence against children as the most common form of violence against children.”
The WHO said that while it’s important to highlight the harmful effects of corporal punishment on children, this may be most helpful on the aspect of advocacy. But this should not distract us from the view that corporal punishment is a basic human rights issue.