New guidelines will not affect media reporting on minors - DSWD chief

MANILA, Philippines - The secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Wednesday assured that the revised guidelines on the reporting of minors were not a blow against the media but rather a “preventive measure.” DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral told GMANews.TV that the guidelines - crafted by the Special Committee for the Protection of Children requiring a DSWD personnel or a psychologist to oversee media interviews with underage victims or suspects – were only meant to safeguard the rights of children under 18 who are victimized or involved in crimes. “(The guidelines) assume that children need to be protected and this is a preventive measure rather than something than (suggests that) journalists are not doing their jobs,” she said. Cabral was a keynote speaker at the Philippine launch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) World Population Report 2008 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong. The special committee that drew up the guidelines was composed of representatives from the DSWD, the Department of Justice, the Philippine General Hospital’s Child Protection Unit, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Health, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigrations. “This is not unilateral but crafted by a committee tasked to protect the children,” Cabral said of the new guidelines called, “Revised Guide for Media Practitioners on the Reporting and Coverage of Cases Involving Children.” Under the said guidelines, members of the media are barred from reporting information about minors or any specific information about their families. Instead of denouncing them, the media should observe the new rules and try to cooperate with the government, said Cabral, stressing that no parent would want his or her child’s rights be violated. “We should all follow it. That’s for the protection of your children too. In case, your child gets in that situation, wouldn’t you like your child to be protected? Then you should cooperate and do everything to follow the guidelines,” she said. Cabral stressed that even before the release of the new guidelines, the DSWD has been ensuring that the rights and dignity of underage individuals in criminal incidents are safeguarded. “Even before (the release of the guidelines) last week, we always protect the children that we have,” she said. “If it comes to our attention that there are some instances when the rights of the children seem to have been violated, we investigate and we do whatever is necessary,” Cabral added. Only this time, the DSWD would have a more hands-on role in ensuring that no one, not even the media, would cross the line of human and child rights. “(With the new guidelines) we need to be called up and told that there is a child who will be interviewed and we need to send somebody there,” she said. - GMANews.TV