BACOLOD City Council Member Em Ang has proposed an ordinance to institutionalize intervention and diversion programs, projects, and activities for children at risk and children in conflict with the law in the city.
This has gained the approval on first reading by the Bacolod City Council Wednesday.
Ang said the ordinance states that Section 18 of Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, requires local government units to develop a comprehensive juvenile intervention program covering at least a three-year period and setting aside an amount necessary to implement the program.
It states that pursuant to Section 23 of the Act, Children in Conflict with the Law will undergo diversion programs without undergoing court proceedings subject to conditions.
Ang said this ordinance is in pursuit of the Philippine government’s commitment to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, principles of restorative justice, and applicable laws on child and youth welfare.
The ordinance to be known as “The Juvenile Justice Welfare Ordinance” of Bacolod City provides for the creation of the Bacolod City Juvenile Justice Council for the Protection of Children.
The Council will be composed of the City Mayor as chairperson, chairman of the SP Committee on Social Services, and the head of the Department of Social Services and Development Office, as co-chairpersons, and representatives of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), BCPO-Women and Children’s Desk, City Jail warden, day workers and barangay health workers' associations, the Department of Education supervisor, and others.