BORONGAN, Eastern
Samar – Colonel Joel Joseph Cabides, Commanding Officer of 801st
Infantry Battalion, Fatima, Hinabangan is wanting amendment of R.A.
9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, which seeks to protect
the best interest of the child.
Cabides remarks on the
law was revealed during the Peace and Order Council (PPOC) Meeting at
the Provincial Capitol recently. His response came when PIA as a
Child’s Right Advocate appealed for a more humanitarian treatment for
some children who reportedly are being tapped by the communist
terrorists as combatants.
Apparently, Cabides is
not sold to the child protection law particularly the most salient
feature of it, that of "exempting children offenders who are below 18
years old from sentence except when the act is done in discernment".
He recalled that for a
time, he almost encountered death when a seven-year-old was ordered to
pull the trigger of the pistol before his very eyes. As a child
standing before him, who could ever suspect the boy was suppose to
execute a dismal job to an offender of 37 years in the military
service?, Cabides stressed. On several occasions in the past, he
continued, we have read in the papers of children who are being tapped
by terrorists as couriers of explosives because they are far from
suspects of wrecking havoc. Because of this reality in our fight
against terrorism and insurgency it is necessary that Congress should
scrutinize the law, that is why he already has submitted his concern
in order to achieve a fair play in the campaign to achieve lasting
peace, Cabides concluded.
It was also reported
in the meeting that about 82 minors are still in the hills fighting
for a cause they probably barely know about. Yelen Abecedo who was
among the participants of the meeting was a child, when she was
recruited, and she had ten minors in her unit, the report added.
Today, Abecedo has joined the folds of the law and is into advocacy
campaign, telling her story about the hard and rigorous life in the
hills where there is not a single minute of peace which should not be
replicated anymore by children and minors.
The peace and order
campaign is in line with President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo’s effort
to extend the hand of reconciliation to the insurgents.
