28 January 2009
HONORABLE MEMBERS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
WE, the undersigned members and partners of the Mindanao Convenors against Corporal Punishment (MCCoP), a network of child-focused institutions in four cities of Mindanao, namely: Davao City, General Santos City, Zamboanga City and Ozamis City have been in the forefront of a campaign to stop corporal punishment and to end all forms of violence against children in this island.
The 2006 World Report on Violence against Children by the United Nations had prompted the formation of the MCCoP in the middle part of 2007 through the effort of Save the Children Sweden to spearhead the campaign in Mindanao, the land where internal strife and poverty abound that further marginalize millions of its inhabitants especially women and children.
The campaign involved about two hundred teachers, principals and administrators of 20 public elementary and secondary schools, members of six religious groups, 21 student governing bodies and children’s organizations, 26 allied NGOs and civic groups, hundreds of LGU officials, barangay functionaries and BCPC members, daycare workers and care providers, and other sectors in Mindanao.
The results of our two-year campaign in schools, homes, communities and care institutions have validated and reinforced the main findings of the said World Report that physical maltreatment of children is real and affects thousands of children in Mindanao and is often embedded in a cultural belief that children learn through violent punishment and physical pain, thus strengthening our resolve to stop corporal punishment being a global issue affecting millions of children worldwide.
Recent reports from UNICEF reveal that 21.3 percent of children in all its Country Programme for Children (CPC) 6 areas, including Davao City, have experienced severe forms of disciplining. In these areas, at least 40% of students in Grades 1-3 and 70 percent in Grades 4-6 and high school have experienced some kind of violence in school but most violence against children still remains largely unreported.
A similar research conducted by Save the Children Sweden in the Philippines in 2005 showed that “almost all of the children interviewed (85%) reported being punished in the home, and subjected to physical forms of punishment, or those involving direct assault on different parts of the body. Spanking was reported by more than half (65%) of children. The majority of the children (72%) interviewed also felt emotional hurt or pain after being punished; and more than half (56%) said they cried after being punished. Filipino children have described corporal punishment as being very painful, not only on the “outside” (physical) but also on the “inside” (emotions) and unforgettable.”
We believe that by eliminating all forms of corporal punishment of children and instead promoting a non-violent, positive discipline that provides warmth and structure that addresses developmental needs and teaches them what they ought to know in the long term will be for the best interest of children and for the better future of the country.
We support the passage of HB 682 or the anti-corporal punishment bill now pending in congress because it provides the mechanisms and structure that will further ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of children, especially against physical and emotional abuse, which are enshrined in our own constitution and strengthened by the Convention on the Rights of Children and its special protocols.
We support the passage of a national legislative measure against corporal punishment not only because of the recommendations of the World Report on Violence against Children, but also because we believe that the State has the obligation and is primarily accountable for the fulfillment of their rights as its sacred commitment to the Filipino people in particular, and humanity, in general, as it signed the international covenant on children.
We therefore humbly urge the members of this august body to pass HB 682, the same way as we plead to the senate to do the same on their counterpart bill in the hope of passing this landmark legislation that will help establish a more violent-free environment for our children.
End Corporal Punishment, Pass HB 682 Now!
Sincerely yours for the
Mindanao Convenors against Corporal Punishment,
(SIGNED)
EDITH O. CASIPLE
Executive Director
Tambayan Center for
Children’s Rights, Inc.
Davao City
EMMANUEL C. ROLDAN
Executive Director
Kabataan Consortium, Inc.
Davao City
ELLA ABAD-TAN
Program Manager
Bantay-Bata 163
Davao City
ROLDAN GONZALES
Executive Director
Gitib Inc.
Ozamis City
CHRISTOPHER PEÑALES
Chapter Program Manager
Family Planning Organization
of the Philippines,
SOCSARGEN Chapter
ELSA MANABAT
Executive Director
Katilingban Alang sa
Kalambuan, Inc.
Zamboanga City
MA. GRACE RAMOS
Executive Director
Adolescents Health
Advocates, Inc., Davao City
REV. EREBERTO P. GOPO
Program Director
Davao Advocates for the
Rights of Children, Davao City
JEANETTE A. LAUREL
Executive Director
Talikala, Inc.,
Davao City
Uphold the rights of the child, now and all the time!
Friday, January 30, 2009
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