Lacson says nat’l gov’t, not LGUs, should fund Bahay Pag-asa

Senator Panfilo Lacson said Wednesday the national government should now provide funding for facilities handling children in conflict with the law since local government units (LGUs) have failed to do it despite being tasked by law.

Lacson said that while the present Republic Act 10630 or Juvenile Justice Act provides for funding for the "Bahay Pag-asa" facilities, many LGUs lack the resources to operate them.

"There are provinces that may not be able to build, much less maintain, such facilities. Funding for this is no joke. It may run to tens if not hundreds of millions of pesos," he said in a radio interview

"It should be the national government that provides the budget for this, instead of the LGU," he added.

Under RA 10630, a budget of P400 million shall be appropriated for the construction of "Bahay Pag-asa" rehabilitation centers in provinces or cities with a high incidence of children in conflict with the law.

Tricia Clare Oco, Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council executive director, said no Intensive Juvenile and Intervention Support Center (IJISC) has been established since the Juvenile Justice Act was enacted in 2006. (https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/682374/juvenile-council-head-laments-lack-of-facilities-for-children-in-conflict-with-law/story/)

“Unfortunately, isa sa monitoring namin wala tayong Intensive Juvenile and Intervention Support Center which should be in the Bahay Pag-asa.  Not one has established that. That’s one of the problems we have,” she said during the first hearing of the Senate justice and human rights panel on the proposed lowering of age of criminal responsibility.

She added there are only 63 Bahay Pag-Asa in the country but five of these are non operational, 55 are run by local government units and three run by non-government organizations.

She said that most of these have sub-human condition.

During the hearing Tuesday, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said no budget from the national government was allocated for the construction of Bahay Pag-asa for 2019.

Lacson said the funding could be taken up in the bicameral conference committee which will meet next week to work on the passage of the P3.7-trillion proposed national budget for 2019.

"It can be taken up in the bicameral conference committee. The bottom line is that LGUs cannot provide funding for such facilities using their internal revenue allotments. In most cases, they prioritize their IRAs for development programs," he said.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe said the government should intensify school feeding program, which is one way of cutting school drop out rates that lead to juvenile delinquency.

“The challenge now is how to retain vulnerable children in school. One way is to incentivize class attendance by offering them free meals. ‘Pag pumasok ka, may pagkain. We do not only feed your mind but your body as well. Education is the best antidote to crime,” she said in a press statement.

The Senate has increased the budget of the Department of Education for school feeding, to P7.58 billion, from the P3.97 billion as originally proposed by Malacañang in their 2019 national budget bill.

This increase means an additional 1.67 million students will be served hot, daily meals  in public schools, Poe said.

She said the total budget for free children’s feeding this year, P11.07 billion, of which P7.58 billion is lodged with DepEd, and P3.49 billion for DSWD, “is far from the ideal amount, but is a good start.” — MDM, GMA News