Last Aug. 16, the Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc. (HLAF) Center for Restorative Action (CRA) initiated the Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting with partner barangays from Malabon City and Navotas City held at the Barangay Dampalit Multipurpose Hall.
The TWG meeting was conducted by HLAF Team as part of the CRA-Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) Training in monitoring and mentoring strategies with the partner barangays.
Representatives from the BCPC partner barangays in Malabon and Navotas gathered at the TWG meeting were from Brgy. Tañong, Brgy. Tanza, Brgy. San Agustine, Brgy. Hulong Duhat, Brgy. Dampalit, Brgy. Longos, Brgy. Baritan, Brgy. West Navotas and Brgy. Tangos.
Before proceeding to the barangays’ report, HLAF Community Organizer, Ms. Emy Torrefiel led the discussion on the needed forms and requirements for the annual Juvenile Justice Volunteers’ Congress. This year’s JJVos theme “Sa Tulong ng Aktibong Pakikilahok ng JJVo, Tamang Pagpapatupad ng JJWA ay Masisigurado” focuses on the impact of the involvement of children and youth in the juvenile delinquency prevention and implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act at the community level. Also, this year will mark the fifth year of conducting the Juvenile Justice Volunteers (JJVos) Congress. It will also be an avenue for the participants to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act being one of the landmark legislation in the country.
BCPCs’ representatives from partner barangays of Malabon and Navotas reported their progress and statistics about the children in conflict with the law and children at risk cases. Some barangays also mentioned the interventions that helped them to lessen the CAR and CICL cases in their barangay. Different reports are as follows:
Barangay Tañong
Barangay Tañong shared one of the activities that their BCPC members are doing in their barangay. The barangay has activity on scavenging goods to contribute to their BCPC funds.
Barangay Tanza
Barangay Tanza reported that last July, their barangay held their organized BCPC seminar and BCYA committee. Also, to help the CICLs and CARs, Barangay Tanza conducted a clean-up drive and gardening involving CICLs and CARs in their barangay.
Barangay San Agustin
Ms. Carol, a volunteer of BCPC from Brgy. San Agustine, stand as a representative of their barangay to report their program of “pagpapa-aral” for the CICLs and CARs to help them build their ground on education. She also mentioned the success story of one of the cases they handled in the barangay. The case of a 17-year-old was a former CICL and today, he is now helping his parents in their everyday activities.
Barangay Hulong Duhat
Barangay Kagawad Vlady Garcia presented the reports and updates on the barangay’s statistic report of 88 curfew cases and zero cases on CICL and CAR. He also shared that the barangay has two latest success stories. According to Kagawad Garcia, the counseling program is the first step in their intervention for their CICL and CAR cases. Also, the barangay’s BCPC has a list of names of CICLs and CARs for continuous monitoring and visitation.
Barangay Dampalit
According to BCPC Focal Person of Barangay Dampalit, Ms. Kimberly Fernandez Jugo) noted that their barangay held sports festivals and livelihood programs of paper bags for their youth as part of their intervention. To date, the barangay doesn’t have existing CICL and CAR cases.
Barangay Longos
Barangay Kagawad Edna Morit presented the barangay’s organized list of CICL and CAR cases data on their logbook. She also mentioned the step-by-step intervention program for their CAR and CICL cases.
Barangay Baritan
To date, Barangay Baritan reported that their barangay currently has a record of one CICL case and six CAR cases.
Barangay West Navotas
The success story of Barangay West Navotas was presented by Mr. Manuel Salao, a BCPC representative from Barangay West Navotas. He shared how they were able to attain their new BCPC headquarters. Also, he reported that as of to date, the barangay has zero record of CICL and CAR cases.
Barangay Tangos, Navotas
Ms. Geraldine Gonzales presented the update of Barangay Tangos’ BCPC program. The issue that the barangay was currently focused on was on teenage pregnancy inclined with the increasing cases of CICL in their barangay.
In the later part of the activity in the TWG meeting, the partner barangays were divided into groups according to their batch. HLAF’s Senior Social Worker and HLAF’s Senior Community Organizer, Mr. Luis Singgangan, RSW, and Ms. Claudette Almadin, RSW, asked the group to write a position paper on the BCPCs stand about the lowering of the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) from 15 years old to 9 years old. They explained how the position paper can be used and what will be the content of the paper.
HLAF considered the TWG meeting as a successful and good update from the BCPCs of partner barangays from Malabon and Navotas. HLAF looks forward to the future works of the barangays in working together for juvenile justice.