HERE I STAND - Why juvenile justice?

By Geronimo L. Sy, The Manila Times
Thursday, February 23, 2006

YESTERDAY the House of Representatives passed on third reading the juvenile justice bill titled Child Protection through a Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System Act of 2005 by a vote of 164-0. Touted by child justice advocates as the solution to the issue of children in jail, the bill calls for the establishment of an Office of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) under the Department of Justice, youth detention homes, halfway homes and youth rehabilitation centers. It requires the development of a community-based program on delinquency prevention.

The relatively quick passage and the unanimous vote on the bill is perhaps a reaction to the CNN story on children in the country’s jails first broadcast internationally six months ago with a follow-up story in early February. It really put us in a bad light given our relatively young population and showed the lack of concerted government and private efforts and the sickening conditions of our jail systems. Last year a documentary film Bunso made by two independent local filmmakers went the rounds portraying the plight of three minors who met tragic fates in a cycle of violence in a Cebu jail.

The Comprehensive Juvenile Justice bill seems to be the correct response and remedy. It looks good on paper and feels right for the conscience. Upon closer examination, some things are not what they seem.

Let me illustrate. A visit to the city jail of Pasay, known as a dirty and less progressive city in the metropolis, brings out a welcome surprise. There is a relatively new building right beside the old jail structure that houses juvenile offenders. One floor is dedicated to boys and another to girls.

What was unforeseen is the detention of the third sex whose numbers are on the rise. Initially and naturally, they were lumped with the boys. After a few weeks, cases of sexually transmitted diseases were reported. They were promptly transferred to the girls’ section. Guess what? Pregnancies happened.

There are an estimated 4,000 children in our jails today. Assuming each child needs 10 square meters of living space at the cost of P10,000 per square meter, this translates to P400 million. The challenge for us is to go out there, build and pour resources into the heart-wrenching issue. Enough talk, debate, propaganda and waste of time and money as if a law is the instant solution. We know enough about unfunded laws that just add another layer to the bureaucracy. The creation of a new office, new centers and homes and new plans under the bill will require a lot of funds, too. Without the economics to back it up, the law will not work.

The bigger picture is that in the first place, our penal system follows the classical theory of criminal law. It means that criminal liability is founded on the human free will and the purpose of penalty is retribution. In lay parlance, an eye for an eye. Violators of the law are meted out prison terms to be isolated, for them to reflect on their wrongs and to hope that somehow they will be rehabilitated. The truth is the breakdown in our penal system, which is part of the larger decay of the criminal justice system, actually hardens offenders into convicts. They become criminals inside and out.

Thus, we have diversion programs for the youth which will not land them in jail. But why justice only for the juveniles? Let’s not get bowled over by the emotional argument for children. Changing the age of criminal liability is a near-sighted proposal that does not go into the root causes. How about justice for the innocents? What are we to do with our criminal justice system? Let’s not romanticize the idea of helping kids and lose sight that there are no victimless crimes as defined in the bill. Any transgression of law and order has a ripple effect no matter how small and far. Society is affected; the parties involved are the victims above all. The bill may serve as a strong statement on the legislative intent to protect children and to put in place the concept of restorative justice. But without clear thinking and sensitive approaches, the bill is a false hope and a token gesture. [End]