The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines ‘corporal’ or ‘physical’ punishment as any punishment that makes use of physical force to cause pain or discomfort. Unicef goes on to say that corporal punishment usually involves hitting, for example, slapping or spanking children with the hand or with an implement. The CRC views corporal punishment as invariably degrading.
By PAUL RANDY P. GUMANAO
Davao Today
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — The Provincial Council approved an ordinance that will promote positive discipline on children and ban corporal punishment.
The move was timed for the culmination of children’s month celebration in the province. Provincial Board Member Airene Pagal, the principal sponsor of the Ordinance Promoting Positive Discipline and Prohibiting Corporal Punishment of Children in the Province of Cotabato, claimed Governor Emmylou Taliño is set to sign the law. This makes the province one among the few local government units in the country to approve a law that will provide legal protection to children against physical punishment and abuse.
Pagal, likewise, urged the Senate to expedite its own pending bill on positive discipline.
Editha Casiple, executive director of Tambayan Center-Davao City, hailed the ordinance saying the government is now mandated to educate parents and the community against corporal punishment on children.
“If we talk of positive discipline, all issues of the children are covered,” Casiple said. She added that sexual abuse and juvenile justice would not happen if there is a positive approach on disciplining children. “This is a principle that we have to hold on to.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines ‘corporal’ or ‘physical’ punishment as any punishment that makes use of physical force to cause pain or discomfort. Unicef goes on to say that corporal punishment usually involves hitting, for example, slapping or spanking children with the hand or with an implement. The CRC views corporal punishment as invariably degrading.
The approved ordinance was discussed during a three-day Mindanao Children’s Festival (MCF) last October 27 at the Provincial Capitol. Some 350 children from 25 different children’s rights groups attended the event.
Kids can tell
During the festival, Raquel Quiapal, a 16-year-old Maguindanaon of the Moro human rights group Anak-Kawagib urged children victims of violence to be strong and added that, “Kailangang alamin natin ang ating mga karapatan para hindi tayo maapi-api at maapak-apakan (We have to know our rights so that we will not be oppressed and our rights trampled upon).”
Quiapal said that Moro kids are “very vulnerable to rights violations, such as racial discrimination and displacement brought about by armed conflicts.”
Faizera Ibrahim of Anak-OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) also lamented that the children of OFWs are doubly abused.
Ibrahim pointed out that the absence of their parents is already difficult to bear, plus they are poorly protected by the state. She said, if there were enough jobs in the country, their parents would not need to leave.
Mayrell Ann Ravina, a child anchor of the children’s radio program Usapang Pambata (Kid Talk) in local radio stations here, said that the children’s participation and development rights also have to be advanced.
She said that many children are capable of sharing their opinions in major decision-making activities.
Comprehensive child protection
Children’s advocates in the festival urged for a comprehensive child protection system.
Roldan Gozales of the non-governmental Gitib from Ozamis City admitted that the problem on corporal punishment stems from the strong cultural influence particularly on the adult-child power-relations.
He said there is need to protect children against environmental degradation and development aggression by big, foreign mining and agribusiness firms.
Gonzales cited as an example the recent massacre of the Capion family in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. Blaan anti-mining advocate Juvy Capion, 27, who was two months pregnant, was brutally murdered along with her two young sons aged 7 and 13.
Gonzales said that the peaceful conditions for children can be established only by solving the socio-economic problems of the families and the communities where the children belong.
Christopher Peñales of the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines-Socsksargends (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos, Davao del Sur) also expressed concern on the statistics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids) involving children.
He said the recent proposal to legalize prostitution in the country endangers the children.
Peñales believes that protecting children’s rights needs a “womb-to-tomb approach” and that the Philippine government, as a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, is the primary duty-bearer to uphold children’s rights in the country.
“Children’s rights are human rights,” Peñales stressed. (Paul Randy P. Gumanao/ davaotoday.com)
