Four Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) burn Bahay Pag-Asa, a youth center facility in Caloocan City. The girls were all under the facility’s care.
According to Caloocan Police Chief P / Col. Dario Menor, four teenagers aged 15 to 17, admitted that they set a foam in fire using a lighter inside their dormitory at the Bahay Pag-Asa on Torsillo St., Barangay 28 in the said city.
The Caloocan Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) investigation revealed that Melanie Ferran, 47, House Parent of the City Social Welfare Department of Caloocan City, smelled a burning rubber at 3:00 am.
She went to the scene and saw the thick smoke coming from Dorm-A, which caused her to ask help from the other City Social Welfare staff. They immediately took all CICLs, including four girls out of the facility, awaiting the arrival of BFP personnel.
The fire was quickly extinguished when firefighters arrived. The four teenage suspects were taken to the Caloocan BFP Arson Investigation Section for proper disposition.
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4 youth offenders burn Bahay Pag-Asa in Caloocan
In 2019, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Kalookan said that shelters built for children in conflict with the law, such as the Bahay Pag-Asa, were “worse than cages for animals.”
“Believe me, our house for dogs live in far better conditions,” he was quoted in CBCP News.
Bahay Pag-Asa centers are youth care facilities mandated by law to offer rehabilitation and intervention to children in conflict with the law.
Currently, children under the age of 15 in the Philippines are exempt from criminal liability but subject to intervention by the government under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
In the approved House Bill (HB) 8858 on January 22, 2019, children aged 9 to below 15 will face criminal charges if found guilty of committing serious crimes. These crimes include kidnapping, murder, parricide, infanticide, and serious illegal detention.