UNICEF, rights group urge rescue of Positive Discipline Bill from Duterte veto

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Child Rights Network (CRN) on Saturday lamented President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to veto the “Positive and Non-Violent Discipline of Children Act,” and urged officials and the public to save the bill.

"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," the CRN said in its statement.

"We fear that the veto might even embolden parents and others to further harm children in the guise of discipline."

CRN also argued that, despite the belief that positive discipline is a Western ideology, it was Filipino children pushing for the bill and not Western nations.

UNICEF meanwhile pointed out that the bill did not take the responsibility of raising children away from parents, nor did it give more authority to the government. Rather, it contributed to the protection of families and assisted families as nurturers of children.

According to UNICEF, the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence against Children (NBS VAC) found that three in five Filipino children experienced physical violence during childhood, and more than half of these cases happened in their own homes.

One in two as well received corporal punishment at home in the form of spanking with a bare hand, rolled paper, or small stick; had been pulled by the hair; had ears pinched or twisted.

A third suffered severe forms of abuse such as slapping, kicking, smothering, fettering, drowning, or burning.

Over four and half percent were physically harmed to the point that the child required hospitalization.

UNICEF also said that a national study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children in the Philippines found that violent discipline was the most frequent form of violence against both boys and girls in the home, driven by factors including social norms around the use of and the effectiveness of discipline, authoritarian parenting, and a parent’s level of education.

In his February 28 veto of the Positive and Non-Violent Discipline of Children Act, Duterte claimed that responsible parents could use corporal punishment in a self-restrained manner, and the inflicting of such pain and injury had resulted in law-abiding citizens. — Kaela Malig/DVM/KG, GMA News