AS an NGO extending psycho-social help to children-victims of state violence, the Children’s Rehabilitation Center appreciates the long-awaited guidelines, issued by the Department of Justice, for media reporting and coverage of children’s cases. The guidelines should put a stop to the irresponsible and sensationalized reporting, by unprofessional media practitioners and “envelopmental journalists,” of such cases, especially those involving children with physical deformities or sexually abused children.

We want to point out, however, that professional media actually promote children’s rights by exposing the truth and by reporting children’s cases factually. Take the case of Grecil Buya, a 9-year-old girl who was killed in 2007 and tagged “as an NPA child warrior” by the military. The military was the one who sensationalized the case in the media but it was also through the media that the lie was eventually exposed. The AFP publicly retracted the accusations and, thanks to the media, Grecil’s name was cleared.

What is glaring here is that the DOJ has altogether ignored the fact that law enforcers and soldiers have been found to be more vicious violators of children’s rights than the unprofessional media practitioners. The fact is it is the law enforcers and the military that have a penchant for exposing “child warriors” or “child soldiers” to trial by publicity by presenting them to the media like common criminals. The DOJ, therefore, in addressing the guidelines to the media, may be barking up the wrong tree. The guidelines should have been also directed to law enforcers and the military.

The guidelines also do not take into consideration the advocacy agenda calling on other children and the general public to see and act on the children-victims’ plight. The guidelines see children as passive receivers of protection when in fact, there are children who have enough courage and conviction to bring to the public arena their own cases and to speak in front of the media, despite being aware of the consequences and risks.

While the guidelines are meant to protect children, they should not be imposed to hide the truth. The Filipino children’s plight, in the first place, is not pleasant to behold; it mirrors the stark realities that have shackled the larger population of the poor and oppressed for centuries. The gravity of our society’s ills is magnified when seen through the experience of a child-victim. We hope that the guidelines will not serve to censor the media for exposing such realities.

—MA. ESMERALDA MACASPAC, executive director, Children’s Rehabilitation Center,
90 J. Bugallon St., Project 4, Quezon City