House vows to address violence against children

MANILA, Philippines — Congress will fully support the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence Against Children (PPAEVAC), Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said yesterday.

“The House of Representatives, and Congress as a whole, is with you in this commitment to address violence against children,” said Nograles, House appropriations committee chairman, during the launching of the PPAEVAC at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Nograles said they would tackle policy reforms aimed at easing bottlenecks in implementing relevant programs as well as allocate funds to roll out the programs each government agency is tasked to do under PPAEVAC.

“As chairman of the committee on appropriations, I shall commit to proactively advocate to my colleagues in Congress to allow for strategic resource allocation and mobilization to implement the PPAEVAC nationwide, particularly among local governments. This means we shall be responsible for ensuring our national and local operational support to the programs detailed in the Plan of Action will be sustained,” he noted.

He also vowed to continue working with partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the National Network to End Violence Against Children.

UNICEF earlier reported that eight out of 10 children in the Philippines have experienced physical, psychological and sexual violence.

The National Baseline Study on Violence against Children showed three out of five Filipino children experienced a form of physical violence in various settings, or were reported to have some form of psychological violence in any setting. It also revealed that one in five children aged below 18 underwent some form of sexual violence.

Nograles stressed that protecting children “is our individual responsibility.”

Julia Rees of UNICEF Philippines said, “It is concerning that violence pervades on children, committed by people they trust,” referring to findings of a study commissioned by the agency that showed most incidents of violence against children occur at home, in schools and in their own communities. – With Rhodina Villanueva