Children in conflict with the adult world, 2

PREDA Foundation was set up 50 years ago to address this shameful neglect and violation of child rights by the state and campaigned for a law to protect the thousands of abandoned, abused and neglected street children.

Only after the lockdown during COVID- 19, the campaign to stop the jailing of children 15 below succeeded. However, many older boys are still jailed despite the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law.

Preda, among others, tried to fully implement the rights of the child so that they are treated with dignity, respect and given full opportunities to recover and be educated. However, local officials in cities and municipalities do not yet fully recognize the value and rights of the children in conflict with the law.

In years past, children as young as 10 were locked behind bars as criminals and mixed with adult criminals as seen in the CNN report above. As senior social worker Emmanuel Drewery and executive director of the Preda Foundation writes: “Since then, the wanton arrest and incarceration of minors, even those 15 and below who are not supposed to be arrested and jailed, sadly continues today.”

What caused many children to be jailed and killed was the war on drugs campaign pushed by the previous administration, which resulted in many young people being apprehended and jailed as suspects for the use and peddling of illegal drugs. Unfortunately, many young people were executed on the streets without arrest, evidence, or trial. Therefore, shelter protection for the most vulnerable is of greater importance as the youth face the dreaded death squads.

The youth and children are no longer safe on the streets but they have nowhere else to go. The World Organization Against Torture reported that at least 122 children aged from 1 to 17 and as many as 30,000 young and middle- aged adults have been killed by police during operations and vigilante killings are rampant in this so-called war-on-drugs.

Therefore, the protection of the youth is the top priority. Street children are especially vulnerable as they are arrested for vagrancy and are branded as criminals.

The government’s youth detention facilities, ironically called “Bahay Pag- asa” or “Houses of Hopes”, offer very little hope for the proper rehabilitation of these minors. Most Bahay Pag-asas still offer detentionlike experiences for these boys. They are overflowing with youth inmates and are overcrowded. Many young children are imprisoned in these facilities alongside older youth who bully them.

They are in dire circumstances as most of the jail cells have no beds and some boys would sleep on the floor. The younger children, some as young as 12, are still incarcerated despite the law forbidding it and they suffer physical abuse and even sexual abuse. Bullying is common, and the children there are fed very poorly, sometimes expired or spoiled food is served.

There is still an urgent need for these Bahay Pag-asas to be reformed and offer a proper rehabilitation program and experience that heals, empowers, educates, and respects the rights of children. Thus, Preda continues its advocacy work for the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law to be properly and fully implemented.

Where does the life of a street child or a child in conflict with the law begin, we may ask. The answer of course is that it starts in the home. They run away to the street because of poverty, hunger, abuse and neglect.

Family breakdown is common and they suffer child abuse in their own families Many children are being saved from the streets and protected by Preda Foundation before they are put in the government jail-like facilities. They are as young as 6 to 15 years of age. They are abandoned on the streets and must get immediate priority before they are seriously harmed and hurt.

The challenge to government is to learn and respect the rights of minors in conflict with the law and reform the Bahay Pag-asa. Can the Philippine government appoint a progressive child rights protector and reformer to implement positive changes in the system of child detention?

The reform must provide a quality recovery and empowerment program where the youth and children are happy to get care and education, be enlightened with moral values, given hope, and a sense of freedom and education. They need an intelligent yet compassionate program of healing, recovery and aftercare.