THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched the country’s first ever Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY) for female Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu, on Friday, June 20, 2025.
The rehabilitation center aims not only to promote restorative justice for CICL but also to comply with the call for a separate gender-sensitive facility.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, in an interview with reporters, said the new facility complies with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s mandate to ensure the safety of vulnerable children, including CICL.
He added that the President’s mandate was to give a second chance to these children, as they are also victims of circumstances.
Gatchalian said there was a need to address the lack of gender-sensitive facilities for female CICL, as existing facilities cater only to males.
He explained that both victims and the perpetrators lived in a shared housing facility.
The rehabilitation center will be operational by next month, Gatchalian said. It can accommodate 50 to 70 female CICL, aged 15 to 18 years.
Second chance
Children who will be confined in the facility must first be referred by the court as stipulated under Republic Act No. 9344, otherwise known as the “Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.”
The facility offers psychosocial activities that aim to improve the overall well-being of the children not just physically but also their emotional and mental state, skills enhancement and training in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and Commission on Higher Education (Ched), and Alternative Learning Systems that will help them continue their education.
According to Associate Justice Geraldine Fiel-Macaraig, the purpose of rehabilitation is to give a “second chance and opportunity” for CICL to have a better life in the future.
“Confinement in rehabilitation should not be taken as a form of punishment but instead as an opportunity for them to prepare for a better future, for them to live better lives after their rehabilitation,” she said.
First of its kind
Fiel-Macaraig emphasized that under the RA 9344, the CICL will be cleared of all traces and records of their past criminal activity by the police and the National Bureau of Investigation once they are done with their rehabilitation so as not to compromise their job applications.
“This is the first of its kind but not to become the only one of its kind,” she added.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian expressed optimism for a similar facility to be launched in Mindanao, Northern Luzon, and Southern Luzon.
He said the DSWD aims to build one RRCY for female CICL per region.
In Central Visayas, DSWD-7 manages the RRCY for male CICL in the town of Argao in southern Cebu.
Also present during the inauguration of the facility were outgoing Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, DSWD-7 director Shalaine Marie Lucero, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Group Elaine Fallarcuna, Juvenile Justice Welfare Council Executive Director Tricia Clare Oco, and Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado. / Divine Grace Bendanilo, CNU Intern, and Julie Anne G. Sajetarios, HNU Intern.