Photo Release

Magna Carta of Children: Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, highlights the salient features of Senate Bill No. 2896, otherwise known as An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Children, during the plenary session Tuesday, December 10, 2024. According to Hontiveros, the bill seeks to: 1) codify the rights of children as reposed in other laws and clarifies the primary duty bearers in the exercise of these rights; 2) institute provisions for children, particularly in vulnerable situations such as children who are victims of climate-related disasters, children in geographically isolated and disadvantaged (GIDAs) areas, victims of human trafficking and violent crimes; 3) institutionalize the creation of child advocacy centers, to legislate the protections given to child-witnesses and child-survivors of crime; 4) close an important gap in the Online Sexual Abuse And Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) law; 5) mandate the creation of the Child Ombudsman under the auspices of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and create the Philippine Commission on Children from the Council for the Welfare of Children. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)