President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed a bill that seeks to prohibit parents from administering corporal punishment on their children, saying its passage would intrude on the jurisdiction of families recognized by the Constitution.
In his letter to Congress, the President explained why he vetoed the proposed legislation, stating that he does not share an”overly sweeping condemnation” of corporal punishment, whether it is humiliating or not.
“On the contrary, I am of the firm conviction that responsible parents can and have administered corporal punishment in a self-restrained manner, such that the children remember it not as an act of hate or abuse, but a loving act of discipline that desires only to uphold their welfare,” the President said.
“Such manner of undertaking corporal punishment has given rise to beneficial results for society, with countless children having been raised up to become law-abiding citizens with a healthy respect for authority structures in the wider community,” he added.
The President said the bill puts responsible disciplining of children in a bad light, viewing it as a form of humiliation and punishment.
“The bill would allow the government to extend its reach into the privacy of the family, authorizing measures aimed at suppressing corporal punishment regardless of how carefully it is practiced,” Duterte said.
“In so doing, the bill transgresses the proper boundaries of state intervention in the life of the family, the sanctity and autonomy of which is recognized by the Constitution,” he added.
The President also said he was not unaware of the growing trends prevalent in Western nations that see all forms of corporal punishment as an outdated form of disciplining children.
“I strongly believe that we should resist this trend in favor of a more balanced and nuanced approach, one that is both protective of the child as well as cognizant of the prerogatives of devoted parents who believe in the merits of corporal punishment, rightly administered,” he said, noting that other countries’ cultural trends are not necessarily healthy for the Philippines.
“To uncritically follow the lead of these countries, especially in matters as significant as the family, would be a great disservice to the succeeding generations,” he added.
The said bill, titled “An Act Promoting Positive and Nonviolent Discipline, Protecting Children from Physical, Humiliating, or Degrading Acts as a form of Punishment” was a consolidated version of the Senate Bill No. 1477 and House Bill No. 8239.
SB 1477 seeks to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence by prohibiting beating, kicking, slapping, lashing on any part of a child’s body, with or without the use of an instrument such as broom, cane, whip or belt.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, one of the sponsors of the bill, argued that parents, who suffered from punishment as children, continue the pattern of harm on their own children. The practice, she said, must be stopped.
“This bill seeks to develop a comprehensive program to provide parents and those who exercise parental authority over children with adequate parenting tools and learning resources in employing a positive and non-violent way of disciplining children,” she said.
Meanwhile, HB 8239, the counterpart version of the mentioned bill in the House of Representatives, seeks to promote the positive and nonviolent discipline of children at home, in school, in institutions, in alternative care systems, and in all other settings.
Meanwhile, the President approved a measure extending the availability and release of funds for victims of human rights violations during the martial law regime.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea announced that the President approved the Joint Resolution No. 04 last Feb. 22, a copy of which was only released to the media on Thursday.
Under the joint resolution, the maintenance, availability, and release of the P10-billion fund for the qualified claimants would be extended until Dec. 31, 2019.
The resolution also stated that the Bureau of the Treasury and the Land Bank of the Philippines will have the authority to release the funds. The Commission on Human Rights, on the other hand, will administer its effective distribution.
Medialdea said the move would give claimants ample time to cash their checks.