'Anti-Corporal Punishment bill may be first in Asia'

MANILA, Philippines - The Anti-Corporal Punishment Bill passed recently in the House of Representatives but still pending at the Senate could be the first in Asia, a visiting United Nations official said yesterday.

Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, said the proposed legislation could be the first in the continent should the Philippine Congress pass it this year.

House Bill 4455 or “An Act Promoting Positive Discipline of Children and Prohibiting Corporal Punishment” authored by Representatives Bernadette Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon party-list and Susan Yap of Tarlac was passed in 2011.

The bill seeks to promote positive discipline techniques in all settings, including the home and institutions.

Pais met with a group of Filipino street children in Quezon City yesterday.

She said she will report the status of the bill as well as her visit to the Philippines during the UN meeting on violence against children in Geneva, Switzerland in March.

“I will mention my visit in Manila and tell them that the Philippines is one of the most important countries where I had a dialogue with the children themselves and heard their recommendations on how to eliminate violence among them,” Pais said.

“I will also tell them that a law on anti-corporal punishment has been passed in the House of Representatives but is still pending in the Senate. I will also tell them that the bill needs to be passed as quickly as possible,” she said.