(Ed. Note: The National Human Rights Commission of the Philippines not only express indignation over the recruitment of children as combatants in armed conflict it also calls for attention on the problems of child abuse in Asia.)

Jelyn Dayong at 17 years is still a child under Republic Act No. 7610 known as 'Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.'

She underwent surgery and is under medical treatment for injuries sustained because according to newspaper accounts she was wounded in an ambush last 16 February 1999 in Alegria, Surigao del Norte by the 26th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army.

Jelyn has been identified by reports as teenage NPA guerrilla or an amazon or a political prisoner or an NPA minor combatant. In two months as per reports starting the date of ambush, she was 'under the custody' of the 26th IB, until she was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development on 5 April 1999. In the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the DSWD Caraga Regional Office and an NGO, the Karapatan, are contesting the protective custody of Jelyn Dayong.

There is no doubt that recruitment of children as combatants in armed conflict is deplorable. Children are Zones of Peace and should not be used as exploits in armed conflict even in pursuit of lofty ideals. This is the first stage of the sufferance of Jelyn. The case of Jelyn Dayong, as presented, truly deviates from the norms of rearing a child into adulthood when she is prevented from going to school, from maintaining contact with her family, from living in a safe, peaceful and healthy environment.

Starting from her recruitment, while still in the tender age and up to now, Jelyn has been suffering from the violence, cruelty and carnage of armed conflict. She still is not benefiting from the process of recovery and healing.

The second stage of the sufferance of Jelyn is apparent in Article X of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 7610 which provides:

Section 15. RIGHTS OF CHILD UNDER THE CUSTODY OF GOVERNMENT FORCES - A child taken into custody by government forces in an area of armed conflict shall be informed of his constitutional rights and treated humanely. He /she shall not be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or used in a military operation in any capacity. The government forces shall ensure the physical safety of the child under its custody; provide him with food and the necessary medical attention or treatment; and remove him from the area of armed conflict and transfer him at the earliest possible time to higher echelons of command/office for proper disposition.

The government forces shall, within twenty-four hours after the child is transferred to a military camp, inform the parents or guardians of the child and the social worker of the Department, of the presence of the child in the said camp. (Emphasis ours.)

Section 21. VISITATION OF CHILD - Upon being informed of the detention/arrest of the child by government forces, the Department or the local representative of the Commission shall immediately visit the child to determine the observance by the government forces of the human rights of the suspect. (Emphasis ours.)

Section 25. RIGHTS OF CHILDREN ARRESTED FOR REASONS RELATED TO ARMED CONFLICT - Any child who has been arrested for reasons related to armed conflict, either as combatant, courier, guide or spy is entitled to the following rights:

(a) Separate detention from adults except where families are accommodated as family units;

(b) Immediate free legal assistance;

(c) Immediate notice of such arrest to the parents or guardian of the child; and

(d) Release of the child on recognisance within 24 hours to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and         Development or any responsible member of the community as determined by the Courts. (Emphasis ours.)

The above-cited rules and regulations have been expressed in order to safeguard the rights of the child and to, as much as possible, take him/her away from the site of conflict if only to shorten the trauma and to take him/her to a place of safety and in neutral arms, the DSWD. The longer a child is kept in the care of party combatant, the greater is the tendency that a child will retain longer the feeling and belief that he/she still is part of the conflict. Violation of the said rules can only prolong the state of mind and heart of Jelyn, which is not helpful to her well-being and recuperation.

As an independent agency of government, the Commission is convinced that Jelyn is not merely a case which can be filed in the Court dockets nor is she an account or a number to be solicited or recruited. Jelyn, as our national hero puts it, is the hope of the fatherland. Our obligation to nurture this hope lies in our capability to provide her with a future and not merely an ideal. The rights that they enjoy are the centerpiece of their whole-being. Everybody is called upon to protect these rights.

For what she is enduring because she has been drawn into an armed conflict, Jelyn cannot be a victor whether or not the ideals she was introduced to overpower its enemies. Jelyn still is the victim. All children are. They always are the victims in armed conflict, and, until and unless they have truly recovered and they enjoy the comprehensive program of integration, they shall remain victims.

VIEWED FROM THE FOREGOING PREMISES, this Commission, by reason of the adverse effects on the state of humanity of JELYN DAYONG and in open support for the protection of her human rights, RESOLVED to express its indignation over her recruitment to an armed conflict in violation of and an affront to the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the dignity of the Filipino Children.

SO RESOLVED.