PARENTAL NEGLECT

New ordinance goes tough on parents

The ordinance is being enforced amid contentious discussions in Congress over a proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility – from the current 15 years old to nine or 12 years old. PHOTO FROM GETTY IMAGES

ILOILO City – Failing to monitor one’s child’s attendance and performance in school is a form of parental neglect. So, too, is not attending parent-teacher meetings. These and more acts of parental neglect are punishable under a new city ordinance.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) approved the Iloilo City Parental Responsibility Ordinance to protect children from reckless and careless parents and shield them from dangerous or predatory situations arising from such irresponsibility, according to proponent Councilor Lady Julie Grace Baronda.

Citing youth gang wars and violation of the curfew ordinance for minors, among others, Baronda said parents have the primary responsibility of keeping their children safe.

The ordinance covers children 18 years old and below and those over 18 but are unable to fully take care of themselves, and all persons exercising all types of parental authority and responsibility over these children, including barangays, communities and institutions or offices under the supervision and jurisdiction of the city government.

In approving the ordinance, the SP cited the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child. “The best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration in the enactment of laws that would enable the child to enjoy special protection, including protection from all forms of neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination,” it stressed.

ACTS OF NEGLECT AND PENALTIES

Section 10 of the ordinance lists punishable acts of neglect by persons having parental authority.

A fine of P500 for first offense, P800 for the second offense and P1,000 for the third and succeeding offenses shall be imposed on the parents or guardians who commit the following:

* allowing the child to ride on an overloaded tricycle, whether for hire or otherwise; there is overloading when the tricycle has more than five passengers

* permitting the child to engage in gambling and other vices or harmful practices

* allowing the child to buy intoxicating drinks to be consumed by parents or those exercising substitute parental authority

* allowing the child to vape and/or sell, buy, or smoke cigarettes or tobacco products in relation to the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act 9211

* failing to present the child in health centers for prenatal and postnatal care and Basic Immunization Services, which includes (a) BCG vaccination against tuberculosis; (b) inoculation against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; (c) oral poliomyelitis immunization; (d) protection against measles; (e) immunization against rubella; and (f) such other basic immunization services that the Department of Health prescribes under Republic Act 10152

* knowingly depriving the child access to mental health services as well as sexual health services including sexually transmitted illnesses and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) voluntary counseling and testing

* failing to register the child in the civil registry within one month from birth

Meanwhile, a fine of P1,000 for first offense, P2,000 for the second offense and P3,000 for the third offense and succeeding offenses shall be imposed on parents or guardians who commit the following:

* deliberately failing to monitor the child’s attendance and performance in school, and to attend, without justifiable grounds, parent-teacher conferences, assemblies and consultative meetings when required by the school

* allowing the child to ride on an overloaded motorcycle, in relation to Regulation Ordinance No. 2008-394 (an overloaded motorcycle consists of more than two riders as per Land Transportation Office Administrative Order No. AHS-2008-015)

A fine of P3,000 for first offense, P4,000 for the second offense and P5,000 for the third and succeeding offenses shall be imposed on the parents or guardians who do the following:

* willfully allowing the child to join gangs or knowingly allowing the child to be subjected to violent initiation rites or prohibited hazing by fraternities or sororities inside or outside school under the Anti-Hazing Act

* allowing the child to sell, buy or use illegal drugs as defined by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002

* in the case of parents of children in conflict with the law and/or children at risk, the deliberate non-cooperation with authorities or obstruction of procedures of the diversion and intervention program provided for by the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006

FILING A COMPLAINT

Under the Iloilo City Parental Responsibility Ordinance, any concerned citizen may report a parent or guardian who performed any acts of neglect to either the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), the Philippine National Police – Women and Children’s Protection Desk (PNP-WCPD) or the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) nearest to where the alleged violation happened.

Either of the offices mentioned shall record the report and refer to the BCPC where the alleged violator resides.

The BCPC will investigate; it can invite all the involved parties, including the complainant.

“In connection with the Family Code of the Philippines’ provision on the preservation of the family, the primary goal of the BCPC, together with the barangay captain, is to facilitate a case conference geared towards the best interest of the child,” stressed the ordinance.

Parents whose case reached an agreement in any stage of the investigation shall be required to undergo parental effectiveness sessions (PES) in schedules set by the CSWDO.

In case the BCPC cannot reach an agreement or the parties fail to finish the recommended PES, the same shall recommend to the City Legal Office to file the necessary charges in violation of the ordinance.

But the ordinance “is not really punitive in nature,” insisted Baronda.

“The goal,” she said, is to “engage parents and as well as ila bata nga mag istoryahanay sa panimalay with the help of that CSWDO as facilitator of parent effectiveness sessions.”/PN

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