Teachers' group sees no need for vetoed "anti-palo" bill
Published Mar 5, 2019 09:43 pm
By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
A teachers’ group reiterated that a law on positive discipline may not be necessary after President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the anti-corporal punishment bill also known as the “anti-palo” bill.
(Photo courtesy of Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that corporal punishment is “not allowed in our schools” – thus, “we do not need a law to prohibit the already prohibited.” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas alleged that teachers “are already burdened by so many regulations that are used or misused against us.”
Basas noted that the anti-child abuse law is still in force – making it an example of a law that “has a very good intention.” He also noted that the Department of Education (DepEd) implements a Child Protection Policy (CPP) which imposes “strict rules on protection of children in school setting.” While the TDC recognizes and respects these regulations – its members also lament that “these are also being used to harass, threaten and intimidate the helpless teachers or extort money from them.”
Last week, Duterte has vetoed an “anti-palo” bill which prohibits beating children and other physical forms of punishment to discipline them. Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros filed the measure to promote "positive and nonviolent discipline of children."
“While we appreciate the principles of positive discipline and in fact cooperate with the DepEd and the private sector for its promotion, we believe that creating another law is too much and may further put our teachers in a disadvantaged position,” Basas said. “The principles and definitions, even the supposed violations in the proposal are all covered and already well-written in the pertinent regulations,” he added.
TDC noted that it denounces the “ancient ways” of disciplining children – particularly physical, verbal and psychological punishment in teaching-learning process. “We regard these methods as outdated and ineffective, considering the advances in child psychology and universal principle of children’s rights, which the teachers are expected to abide,” Basas said. However, he noted that all “factors in school situation” should be taken into consideration.
“In fact, given the present complicated condition, teachers who are often misunderstood and sensationalized for imposing 'discipline' also need the protection of the law,” Basas said. “We must, at all times be sure that the rights and welfare of teachers are protected in the same weight as we protect the children,” he added.
Instead of pushing a law which prohibits hitting children as a form of discipline, TDC believes that a “genuine and sincere program on positive discipline that involves parents, community leaders, local government and school personnel” is much more needed.
Children's group react
Meanwhile, child rights advocates lamented the President's veto of the positive discipline bill.
For the Child Rights Network (CRN), the largest alliance of organizations and agencies pushing for child rights legislations in the Philippines, the decision to veto the “passage of this bill is a renegation of the Philippine government’s commitment to protect children’s rights.”
“Beating, kicking, slapping, lashing – these are all violent acts that cannot be carefully practiced nor rightly administered,” CRN said. “We want to emphasize that violent discipline does not produce law-abiding citizens, but causes juvenile delinquency, aggression, inter-generational transfer of abuse, and even drug or alcohol abuse,” it added.
Save the Children Philippines also expressed disappointment on Duterte’s decision to veto the said bill. The proposed Positive and Non-violent Discipline Act, the group said, “could have provided the necessary mandate for government agencies and local government units to establish programs and services to help parents, caregivers, teachers and others involved in taking care of children to learn how to practice positive and non-violent discipline.”
For the group, “children have the right to be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence” thus, it is “the duty of the State to ensure this through various measures including the passage of appropriate laws and policies” such as the proposed Positive and Non-Violent Discipline Act.
Save the Children said that enacting the proposed bill “could have been a good opportunity towards providing children with the full protection they need in all settings including the home, where they should feel safest and loved and where they can go for support when feeling unsafe in their schools and communities.” Furthermore, the passage of the bill “would have contributed to changing social norms that accept physical and psychological violence in disciplining children, which is critical in ending the cycle of violence in the society.”
Despite this, CRN and Save the Children—along with other child rights advocates— vowed that they will continue “to push for the enactment of a national law that clearly protects children from violence in all settings of our society.” For CRN, the veto “does not spell the end for our campaign for Filipinos to choose positive discipline” thus, it called on parents, teachers and caregivers “to continually promote and practice positive and non-violent discipline and protect our children from any form of violence.”
Save the Children, on the other hand, said that it will continue to stand by its mission to “inspire breakthroughs in the way children are treated” in the country. “We remain committed to relentlessly pursue the protection of children from all forms of violence including physical and humiliating punishment, and calls on the Philippine government to do the same in fulfillment of its duty to protect the Filipino children,” it ended.
(Photo courtesy of Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that corporal punishment is “not allowed in our schools” – thus, “we do not need a law to prohibit the already prohibited.” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas alleged that teachers “are already burdened by so many regulations that are used or misused against us.”
Basas noted that the anti-child abuse law is still in force – making it an example of a law that “has a very good intention.” He also noted that the Department of Education (DepEd) implements a Child Protection Policy (CPP) which imposes “strict rules on protection of children in school setting.” While the TDC recognizes and respects these regulations – its members also lament that “these are also being used to harass, threaten and intimidate the helpless teachers or extort money from them.”
Last week, Duterte has vetoed an “anti-palo” bill which prohibits beating children and other physical forms of punishment to discipline them. Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros filed the measure to promote "positive and nonviolent discipline of children."
“While we appreciate the principles of positive discipline and in fact cooperate with the DepEd and the private sector for its promotion, we believe that creating another law is too much and may further put our teachers in a disadvantaged position,” Basas said. “The principles and definitions, even the supposed violations in the proposal are all covered and already well-written in the pertinent regulations,” he added.
TDC noted that it denounces the “ancient ways” of disciplining children – particularly physical, verbal and psychological punishment in teaching-learning process. “We regard these methods as outdated and ineffective, considering the advances in child psychology and universal principle of children’s rights, which the teachers are expected to abide,” Basas said. However, he noted that all “factors in school situation” should be taken into consideration.
“In fact, given the present complicated condition, teachers who are often misunderstood and sensationalized for imposing 'discipline' also need the protection of the law,” Basas said. “We must, at all times be sure that the rights and welfare of teachers are protected in the same weight as we protect the children,” he added.
Instead of pushing a law which prohibits hitting children as a form of discipline, TDC believes that a “genuine and sincere program on positive discipline that involves parents, community leaders, local government and school personnel” is much more needed.
Children's group react
Meanwhile, child rights advocates lamented the President's veto of the positive discipline bill.
For the Child Rights Network (CRN), the largest alliance of organizations and agencies pushing for child rights legislations in the Philippines, the decision to veto the “passage of this bill is a renegation of the Philippine government’s commitment to protect children’s rights.”
“Beating, kicking, slapping, lashing – these are all violent acts that cannot be carefully practiced nor rightly administered,” CRN said. “We want to emphasize that violent discipline does not produce law-abiding citizens, but causes juvenile delinquency, aggression, inter-generational transfer of abuse, and even drug or alcohol abuse,” it added.
Save the Children Philippines also expressed disappointment on Duterte’s decision to veto the said bill. The proposed Positive and Non-violent Discipline Act, the group said, “could have provided the necessary mandate for government agencies and local government units to establish programs and services to help parents, caregivers, teachers and others involved in taking care of children to learn how to practice positive and non-violent discipline.”
For the group, “children have the right to be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence” thus, it is “the duty of the State to ensure this through various measures including the passage of appropriate laws and policies” such as the proposed Positive and Non-Violent Discipline Act.
Save the Children said that enacting the proposed bill “could have been a good opportunity towards providing children with the full protection they need in all settings including the home, where they should feel safest and loved and where they can go for support when feeling unsafe in their schools and communities.” Furthermore, the passage of the bill “would have contributed to changing social norms that accept physical and psychological violence in disciplining children, which is critical in ending the cycle of violence in the society.”
Despite this, CRN and Save the Children—along with other child rights advocates— vowed that they will continue “to push for the enactment of a national law that clearly protects children from violence in all settings of our society.” For CRN, the veto “does not spell the end for our campaign for Filipinos to choose positive discipline” thus, it called on parents, teachers and caregivers “to continually promote and practice positive and non-violent discipline and protect our children from any form of violence.”
Save the Children, on the other hand, said that it will continue to stand by its mission to “inspire breakthroughs in the way children are treated” in the country. “We remain committed to relentlessly pursue the protection of children from all forms of violence including physical and humiliating punishment, and calls on the Philippine government to do the same in fulfillment of its duty to protect the Filipino children,” it ended.