By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff Reporter
Batac
City—In a bid to further help children in conflict with
the law (CICL), the Sangguniang Panlungsod here requested the provincial
government of Ilocos Norte thru Governor Mathew Joseph M. Manotoc for the
establishment of Bahay Pag-Asa in the province.
Batac councilor Kichel Jomarie Pungtilan
and Batac vice mayor Atty. Windell Chua sponsored the measure which the council
later approved.
Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution of
the Republic of the Philippines recognizes the vital role of the youth in
nation building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual,
intellectual and social well-being.
Records show, Mr. Pungtilan said, that
there are already CICL cases in the province citing an example in this city
wherein 23 CICL cases were reported from January 2016 up to the present; and
five of them were sent to Bahay Pag-Asa in Bauang, La Union.
The measure, Mr. Pungtilan added, helps
the families and relatives of the CICL’s not to travel anymore to La Union just
to visit them.
The
Ilocos Times learned that the La Union Bahay Pag-asa is
the lone rehabilitation center in the whole Region I.
The Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) urge local
government units to establish a Bahay Pag-Asa Center for CICL in their
respective jurisdictions.
The Bahay Pag-Asa Centers are youth care
facilities mandated by law to offer rehabilitation and intervention to CICL
under the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act.
The Bahay Pag-Asa centers are envisioned
to deliver interventions that would stop a child offender from repeating
offenses.
Mr. Chua, meanwhile, also expressed his
favorable action as one of the main sponsors of the measure for the benefit of
all the LGUs in the province.
Mr. Chua said Batac is open to host the
Bahay Pag-asa.
“Tapnu saanen a marigatan
dagiti kakailian tayo nga umadayo pay a mapan mangbisita dagiti miyembro iti
pamilya da a CICL,” Mr. Chua explained.
Mr. Pungtilan also manifested that all
members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod here are co-sponsors of the said resolution.
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