“Giving Legal Advice to Children in Conflict with Law”

Submitted by: Michelle Joy M. Itable

As completion to my prelims exam in
Legal Counseling

Legal Counseling and Social Responsibility

Submitted to:
Atty.Erik C. Lazo

Arellano University School of Law

Prelims Term Paper
I. Introduction
“For every child, Hope”. This has been the mantra of UNICEF ( United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund) for many years. It somehow sounded such fact that there are
children who are losing hope in different parts of the world. Some are having disconnected
families, poverty, bad influence of environment, victims of war and violence, pressures of the
society as a whole, any or perhaps all of these. While children deserve to have an early life
nurtured with love and care to nurture their full potential as persons, in reality, many children
are born in the most undesirable environments, where abuse could be normal, where doing right
is not rewarded and doing is triumphed. It’s the sad reality in today’s society especially here in
the Philippines with over 31% of the overall population of Filipinos for the past three years. It’s
not surprising that with the negative factors present in our society, in the percentage of children,
there are the so called “children in conflict with law” or those referring to children alleged as,
accused of, or adjudged as, having committed an offense under Philippine laws. Should these
children be punished for crimes even though they have not yet reached the age where they can
give their full consent? Are our penal laws towards children punitive or merely corrective?
As lawyers, what best advice can we give our children clients in conflict with law?

II. Discussion
In a case study conducted by the the Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare, DSWD and the
National Police Commission Crime Prevention and Coordination Service in 1993 entitled
“Survey on Youth Offenders at Camp Sampaguita and Correctional Institute for Women”,
wherein children confined at Camp Sampaguita and Correctional Institute for Women as of
January 30, 1992 were surveyed, fifty one (51) children were interviewed for the survey. The
survey concluded that poverty is one of the causes of juvenile delinquency. A significant
percentage of the children’s parents have low income and this is attributed to the fact that they
have low educational attainment. According to the survey, this situation provided an
impoverished environment for the children where prospects for advancement, socially and
economically, became improbable. With respect to the criminal justice system, the survey made
the following conclusions:
1. The law enforcers had no orientation on how to handle cases of children at the time the
children committed the offence;
2. The physical environment and accommodation at the city, municipal, provincial jail, Camp
Sampaguita or Correctional Institute for Women do not comply with the standards established
by the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Liberty, Standard
Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice and the UN CRC; and
3. There is no concrete rehabilitation programme for the children while in confinement.
This is not really surprising. Our country is way behind when it comes to facilities for Persons
Deprived of Liberty and this includes facilities for children. Not only facilities were lacking but
also the monitoring of the protection of children confined therein. In one of the news articles in
Philippine Star entitled “Boys Town wards cry sexual, physical abuse”, Boys Town in
Marikina, which is one of the detentions, enjoying a reputation as one of the country’s most
successful havens for underprivileged youths, a place of refuge and hope for children, there
have been incidents where insiders themselves estimate that some 20 to 30 wards have been
mauled by the staffs between October 2004 and March 2006 during the time when Daniel
Cabangbangan was the head.

The problems stated above where highly rampant prior the advent of RA 9344 known as the the
“Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act”. Before RA 9344 was enacted, children in conflict with the
law were subjected to the same adversarial proceedings just like the adult offenders.
RA 9344 defines the Juvenile Justice and Welfare System as a system dealing with children at
risk and children in conflict with the law, which provides child-appropriate proceedings,
including programmes and services for prevention, diversion, rehabilitation, re-integration and
aftercare to ensure their normal growth and development.
The law used the term “Child” instead of Juvenile, defining the former as “is a person under the
age of eighteen (18) years. While “Child at Risk” refers to a child who is vulnerable to and at
the risk of committing criminal offences because of personal, family and social circumstances.
Some of the examples mentioned in the law are: being abandoned or neglected, and living in a
community with a high level of criminality or drug abuse. “Child in Conflict with the Law” or
CICL on the other hand refers to a child who is alleged as, accused of, or adjudged as, having
committed an offence under Philippine laws.
A child can commit an act or omission whether punishable under special laws or the amended
Revised Penal Code which is referred to as an “Offence”. Under Republic Act 10630, offences
which only apply to a child and not to adults are called “Status Offences”. These shall not be
considered as offences and shall not be punished if committed by a child. Examples of status
offences include curfew violations, truancy, parental disobedience and the like.
The law which highly promotes the right of a child intends to deal with these children without
resorting to judicial proceedings.
Instead of punishing juvenile offenders and treating them as criminals, these child offenders will
be provided by the State and the community with assistance to prevent them from committing
future offences.
There were also several amendments in the law in January 2019,   aiming to strengthen the
protection of children in conflict with the law and establish that charges involving a minor are
now bailable as a matter of right.
Some of the salient revisions introduced in the law as further explained by Platon Martinez Law
firm were:
  Non-applicability of the Rules to a “Child at risk”
 Procedure in Taking a CICL in Custody

A child in conflict with the law taken into custody shall now be searched by a law enforcement
officer only of the same gender and shall not be locked up in a detention cell. Instead,
immediately and not later than eight (8) hours after apprehension, the CICL shall be turned over
to the Social Welfare and Development Office or other accredited non-government
organizations, and the child’s parents/guardians and Public Attorney’s Office shall be notified
of such apprehension.

 Duties of Law Enforcement Officers

 Social Welfare Officer’s Duty to Conduct an Initial Assessment and Render Intake
Report
 Intervention / Diversion Programs
 Rehabilitation Centers.
 Credit in Service of Sentence
 Bail

It was likewise clarified that all charges involving a minor are bailable as a matter of right as,
for purposes of bail, minority is a privileged mitigating circumstance.

In 2019, there was a clamor as well when the House of Representatives  passed a bill
seeking to lower the age of criminal liability from the current 15 years old to 12 – higher
than the 9 years of age that the committee approved. Many civic groups including UNICEF
have manifested their grave concerns for the welfare of these children if this bill will be
passed. Currently, there is still no update with regards to the status of this bill.

IV. Conclusion

Through the years, our country has manifested trying several efforts thru the enactment of laws
and rules of regulation to enhance the condition of children in conflict with law. Our legal
system is not designed to punish this children but to correct them, and give them a chance for a
more nurtured well being. We just hope that through the years to come, we would develop more
facilities, trained personnel and an over-all systemic program to reform these children.

V. Recommendation

As lawyers, we should be well knowledgeable with the laws and prevailing jurisprudence so
that as we give legal advice to our clients, we are able to give them the proper advice especially
in cases of children in conflict with law.

More importantly, as lawyers, our objective is to make sure that our client will be able to
exercise the rights mandated by the constitution and other laws. If in the future I will encounter
clients who are in conflict with law, I shall make sure that they will be served with due process;
they will know their rights and the proper exercise thereof.
Furthermore, I will make sure that I will be a lawyer not just in paper but also in need because
children doesn’t just need justice or equity to be observed, more than that they need a heart that
truly cares. For every child, hope.

V. References:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/678279/philippines-children-as-a-percentage-of-the-
population/
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2006/06/12/341548/boys-town-wards-cry-sexual-physical-
abuse
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/unicef-implement-juvenile-justice-law-fully-
and-effectively
https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/documents/3147.pdf