Puno Pre-empts Magna Carta for Women's Rights with Women & Children Protection Desk in PNP stations

Legislators may have a hard time passing the Magna Carta for Women´s Rights Bill in Congress but at least one government agency has taken the initiative towards pursuing its spirit to provide additional protection for women and children even before its passage into law.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has established the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) in every municipal station of the Philippine National Police (PNP) all over the country.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno, concurrent chairman of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), said that besides setting up a WCPD in every town, he has ordered the PNP to also establish a Women and Children Protection Center in every region in the country and counterpart centers at the provincial and city levels.

"All the regional offices of the PNP were requested to complete their Women and Children Protection Regional Centers within a month," said Puno. "And then from there, we will go to provincial centers and then city centers."

These Centers and WCPDs will handle cases of violence and abuse committed against women and children, including trafficking and exploitation as defined under Republic Act 9262 (RA # 9262) or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004.

Puno said these centers have been established in compliance with RA 9262, and demonstrates how the DILG and PNP concern for family-related concerns and their response to gender-sensitive issues.

He said the Centers being set up at the regional levels will follow a program "that will promote and propagate both the consciousness and knowledge of what we need to do to protect our women and children."

These centers and WCPDs will be headed and staffed by female police officers to provide women and children a more comfortable and relaxed setting when seeking assistance from the police, he added. Most have temporary facilities to shelter women and take care of children.

Female cops, who now comprise 10% of the country´s 120,000-strong police force, are being tapped by the PNP to supervise its WCPDs nationwide, Puno said.

In the first half of 2008, 3,499 police recruits from the police regional offices, Special Action Force (SAF) and Headquarters Support Services (HSS) were hired by the PNP. Of these, 462 are women (13.2%) for a ratio of one female for every six male recruits. Earlier, 4,775 recruits were sworn into office for the second phase of the PNP´s recruitment program last year in December, of which 462 (13.59%) were also women . Similarly, 21 of the 128 graduates of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in 2008 appointed as Police Inspectors were women.

Puno said these WCPDs are being expanded nationwide in partnership with nongovernmental organizations for the continued training and familiarizing of police officers in protecting the rights of women and children.

"This is to ensure that these WCPDs are functioning in every municipality as "one-stop shops" for the investigation and treatment of victims of child abuse, violence against women and other similar crimes," Puno said.

The Women and Children Protection Center in Camp Crame, which is headed by lady general—Chief Supt. Yolanda Tanigue—has so far established 1,830 WCPDs nationwide staffed with 2,728 female police officers, of whom 1,951 have undergone training on gender sensitivity and the basic investigative skills in handling crimes against women and children.

The WCPD is directly involved in formulating relevant training programs for police personnel handling cases of women and children, supervises the strict enforcement of laws and conducts investigations to protect these sectors from abuse, neglect and exploitation.

"Our training of police personnel manning these WCPDs are continuing and the PNP is expanding its linkages with women´s organizations to promote women´s and children´s rights," Puno said.

The WCPC counts among its numerous accomplishments the launching and dissemination of the Guide for Media Practitioners on the Reporting and Coverage of Cases Involving Children and the establishment of human rights offices nationwide to serve as a focal point for coordination and dialogue on womens´s and children´s concerns.

The PNP is also currently drafting a Protocol on the Handling of Children in Armed Conflict (CIAC).

In February 2009, the PNP entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the International Justice Mission on training police personnel on the necessary skills to effectively enforce laws on the protection of women and children.

Among the more prominent cases now being investigated by the WCPC is a complaint filed by actress Yasmien Kurdi against actor Baron Geisler for acts of lasciviousness, sexual harassment and unjust vexation. Patricia Martinez, daughter of actors William Martinez and Yayo Aguila, also filed a complaint for acts of lasciviousness against Geisler last year.

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