By Lorie A. Cascaro
A network of civil society organizations (CSO) for children, Davao City Community-based Advocacy and Monitoring Group (CBAMG) is calling for the immediate passage of a local ordinance that aims to promote positive and non-violent approaches to child discipline.
Upon the enactment of the proposed ordinance authored by Councilor Leah Librado, a comprehensive program will be formulated by the Davao City Council for the Welfare and Protection of Children (DCCWPC).
Speaking yesterday at the Kapehan sa Dabaw, Café Rysus, SM City Davao, Bhong Binondo of the committee on children’s protection under the council for the welfare of children (CWC) said the ordinance will be a great leap towards the end of culture of corporal punishment, especially in the city.
“The ordinance does not primarily aim to prosecute the parents but to advocate the end of corporal punishment, and to educate adults that positive approach of disciplining children is not an alternative of corporal punishment but the correct way,” he added.
Most reported cases of child abuse in the city were corporal punishment, he said, citing cases in 2010, such that 144 cases were reported to the Davao City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO);
There were 101 reported cases of corporal punishment in the women and children protection unit of the Southern Philippines Medical Center; 395 cases in the women and children’s protection desk of the city police office; 161 cases in the Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights; and, six in the UCCP-Pag-ugmad sa Kabatan-onan sa Davao.
Binondo underscored that the figures do not include unreported cases, which makes the scenario more alarming.
Provisions of the proposed ordinance include allocation of two percent of the total budget of the local council for children, which comprises 20% of the entire budget of the city; and, two percent from the budget of the Sangguniang Kabataan office.
Also guesting at the Kapehan, project officer Paul Relacion of the Plan International and Bernie Mondragon of the Child Alert Mindanao both bared their own experiences of physical punishment by their parents and how they were affected by such.
Mondragon cited cycle of violence as an effect of the culture of corporal punishment, such that parents, who are doing it to their children, were once victims of corporal punishment as well.
Further, Relacion mentioned that in a 2011 study conducted by the Plan Philippines, shows that three out of four parents (75%) say they use corporal punishment to discipline their children, while 83% of children say their parents use corporal punishment to discipline them.
The study also shows that effects of corporal punishment on children include sudden shifts in mood and loss of respect for authority; anger, fear, self-pity and depression; and confusion or questioning of their parents’ love for them.
And, these effects may lead to aggressive or violent behavior of in schools, juvenile delinquency, and loss of self-confidence among children.
The CBAMG is composed of representatives from Child Alert Mindanao, Adolescent Health Advocates, Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights, Mindanao Action Group for Child Rights and Protection, Talikala, Kaugmaon Foundation, Lawig Bubai, Luna Legal Resource Center for Women, Balay Pasilungan, UCCP-Pag-ugmad sa Kabatan-onan sa Davao, Darich Foundation, DMSF-IPHC, Offices of Councilors Librado and April Dayap, DCCWPC, and village councils of Crossing Bayabas, Toril Proper, Panacan, Lapulapu and Agdao.
