BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
THERE is good news, hope and success for children in conflict with the law (CICL) at Preda New Dawn Home in Liloan, Cebu.
This open center founded in 2018 is an alternative to jail and life there is based on trust, respect and building the self-value and dignity of the troubled youth.
It is succeeding in giving a new, happier life and education to the young people sent there by enlightened and compassionate judges in Cebu who are dedicated to implementing the provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (JJWA) that promotes restorative justice.
Ken is one of many success stories of a boy arrested for the possession of marijuana and held in a police jail.
The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act in the Philippines carries a jail sentence of many years. The compassionate judge, Judge Maria Dee Seares, applied the provision of the JJWA and referred Ken to the Preda New Dawn Home.
Ken, at first, was aggressive, easily angered and frequently created conflict with his fellow residents. However, after weeks of values formation sessions, supported by the respect of the staff, and Emotional Release Therapy, he released his anger and hurt and pain in his life experience. Then, his aggression subsided and he became reflective, cooperative and very helpful to the staff and respecting the other boys in the home.
He eventually underwent tests and examination by government agencies and after almost 18 months was eventually pronounced fit to be discharged by the court and reintegrated with his family. He is now living a drug-free life and continuing his studies.
The dedicated and committed Preda Foundation staff that operate the home are saving many youth through a positive program of rejuvenation, value formation, therapy and education. The youth at the home are saved by court order from the suffering and abuse they endure in the youth prison and police holding cells.
In prisons or in Bahay Pag-asa detention centers, the children in conflict with the Law (CICL) have few opportunities in the prison-like conditions to overcome their lack of education and the abuse and deprivation they endured in childhood.
In the detention centers, there are jail cells with steel bars and they suffer bullying, beating and gang violence. Some sleep on the floor and live in subhuman conditions. There is zero to little value formation, training, therapy or education in these government facilities for children in Conflict with the law in the Philippines. All this is traumatic and damaging for young people.
Thatâs why alternative homes for youth like the New Dawn Home in Liloan, Cebu, supported since 2018 by Aktionsgruppe âKinder in Notâ e.V based in Germany, are essential as outlined in the JJWA, a law that is often not implemented by local governments. (To be continued)/PN
