EO No. 633, RA No. 9344

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

On Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order 633 directing authorities and officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Bureau of Corrections to release immediately minors who were 15 years old and below before the commission of the crime they had been arrested for.

The release order applies to all detained minors, or those who were minors when they violated the law, whether they have already been convicted by the Courts, their cases are under trial, or they are just being held after arrest. The move of the President is said to be based on the terms of the United Nations Convention Treaty on the Rights of the Child to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Aside from that, the Philippines has enacted Republic Act 9344 that established the comprehensive juvenile justice and welfare system that calls for what is termed as "restorative justice" for the children.

This is one development which may enable our country to comply with the terms of an international treaty it is party to, but which will surely draw protests from several sectors of the community, especially those who have already noted the disadvantages of the recent application of R.A. 9344. Under this law, minors, no matter how grave the crime they have committed, are not to be detained, much less penalized.

Perhaps the United Nations intention to protect children and spare them from having to answer for their acts, being too young to be fully aware of their consequences, is laudable. However, in such a setting as the Philippines where children have so often been engaged in criminal acts, if not as principals, then as accessories, it is alarming to note that such young citizens will just be allowed to go free, and be absolved from any responsibility.

The same law requires that the children so released shall be returned to their parents who, in many of the cases, are themselves the ones who had led, or, at least, abetted the criminal acts for their own benefit.

This is one law, again, that needs a lot of looking into.*