TABUK CITY, Kalinga β During the workshop in crafting the Comprehensive Barangay Juvenile Intervention Program (CBJIP), the Regional Juvenile Justice Welfare Council (RJJWC), a council attached to Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) highlights the importance of promoting restorative justice for juvenile delinquents.Β
Nora Jacinto, Social Welfare Officer III and secretary of the Regional Juvenile Justice Welfare Committee (RJJWC)-CAR said with proper intervention, rehabilitation programs and community and family support, youth offenders could safely return and be reintegrated to the society.Β
Restorative justice means providing the child all the necessary services for his rehabilitation to make sure they do not go back to doing illegal activities, she emphasized.Β
It is also needed to improve the relationship between the offender, the offended and the community. “Children who commit crimes should not be subject to any form of punishment.Β
Their individual situations must be considered to determine what appropriate service should be accorded,” Jacinto pointed out.Β
Jacinto also said that the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) should be activated, to implement programs on child protection and take immediate actions for misbehaving child(ren).Β
“Children, regardless of the offense committed, should be given the chance to reform, as most of them are also victims of circumstance, due to poverty, family problems and influence from peers and neighbors,” she noted.Β
As per records of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), there are 31 cases of child in conflict with law, with physical injury, theft, sexual offenses like rape and acts of lasciviousness, and attempted murder being the most frequently committed offense. By Darwin S. Serion