Philippines – In Search for a Paradigmatic Framework for Juvenile Justice System

Philippines – In Search for a Paradigmatic Framework for Juvenile Justice System

A Lecture-Presentation for the Japan Legal Aid Association (JLAA) by

Allan Jose J. Villarante API Fellow, The Nippon Foundation Research Intern, Japan Legal Aid Association

25 December 2002 Bar Association Building Tokyo, Japan

  The

Philippine government has apparently undermined the severity of juvenile delinquency problem in society.

  This

neglect has contributed to the upsurge of juvenile-related crimes that has caused enormous questions on the socio-political, economic as well as security programs of the government.

Definition of a Child

 Every country defines the concept “child” or “juvenile” in various ways.  In the Philippines, a child or minor or juvenile or youth is any person below 21 years of age except those emancipated in accordance with law.  However, a juvenile or youthful offender refers to one who is over 9 years of age but under 21 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense.  A 9 year old child or below who commits a crime is exempted from any liability.

The Filipino Children: A Situationer

  The

Philippines is a nation of children

  Besieged

by an infant mortality rate of 42.73 per 1,000 live births

  28%

of children under age 5 are either severely and moderately underweight

  26%

of children from 1-6 years old suffer from iron-deficiency anemia

The Filipino Children: A Situationer As of year 2000, 34.7 million children (45.9 % of 75.5 M Filipinos) are under 18 years of age  

TABLE 1. RATIO BETWEEN POPULATION AND BASIC SERVICES No. of Population 113,040 people 24,417 people 22,309 people 578,124 people 722,654 people

Basic Services one (1) hospital one (1) doctor one (1) nurse one (1) dentist one (1) midwife

The Filipino Children: A Situationer Children Living Away from Home

The Filipino Children: A Situationer Children Living Away from Home

The Filipino Children: A Situationer Juveniles Engaged in Employment

The Filipino Children: A Situationer are approximately 1.5 million streetchildren all over the country with an average annual estimated increase of 6,365   There

  Around

60,000 children are prostituted with an annual average increase of 3,266, making the Philippines the fourth in the list of countries with the most number of prostituted children  1

out of 3 Filipino children experience abuse

State of Juvenile Delinquency

VAGRANCY Table 5. Detained Persons Per Month for the Crime of Vagrancy

Sector

No. of Persons

Percentage

Men Women Street-children and poor and homeless kids

220 630

10 28.63

1,350

61.36

TOTAL

2,200

100.00

State of Juvenile Delinquency

INVOLVEMENT IN DRUG TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE (2000) Table 6. Extent of Drug Abuse Among Juveniles Regular Users Occasional Users-

1,800,000 1,600,000

TOTAL

3,400,000

Source: UNICEF-Philippines

State of Juvenile Delinquency SEX-RELATED CRIMES Table 7. Sex-related Crimes Committed by Juveniles (Age Range from 12-21 years old) Sex-related Crimes

Ave. No. of Reported Cases Monthly

{Rape, attempted rape, act of lasciviousness, molestation, etc.}

1,850

Ave. No. of Reported Cases Involving Juveniles Monthly 380

Percentage (%)

20.54

State of Juvenile Delinquency COMMON CRIMES COMMITTED BY JUVENILES Table 8. Philippine National Police Statistics 2000 on Common Crimes Committed by Juveniles Murder and Homicide Physical Injuries (normally caused by fights) Rape and Acts of Lasciviousness Robbery and Theft (property-related) Drug related Other Crimes

118

2.5%

388 583

8.0% 12.0%

2, 544 673 539

52.5% 13.9% 11.0%

Causes of Juvenile Delinquency  

Extreme poverty

 

Lack of opportunity to attend school

Family instability, disorganization and violence  

 

Substance abuse

 

Media influence and role-modeling

Filipino children who reach the age of 9 years old could be as good - or as bad - as an adult under the existing system of treating juvenile offenders, where many of them are charged and tried as grown-ups. Today, as many as 30,000 children may be growing into adulthood in various city, municipal and provincial jails.

Problems with Juvenile Justice

 

Prevalence of procedural loopholes

 

Negligence and insensitivity

 

Lower age of criminal responsibility

 

Absence of a proper court of jurisdiction

 

Social stigma and problems of reintegration

 

Poor and congested jail and juvenile detention facilities

 

Absence of lawyer/counsel

Functions of the Legislative Research Staff

Salient Points of the Proposed Juvenile Justice System Bill

Salient Points of the Proposed Juvenile Justice System Bill

Salient Points of the Proposed Juvenile Justice System Bill

Salient Points of the Proposed Juvenile Justice System Bill

Summary/Conclusions

THANK YOU.