Facts:

1. Juan is your student.

2. Juan has been absent for a number of days
3. Prior to his absences, he has been quiet and does not participate in the classroom
4. His father is hitting Juan with a piece of wood when you visited their house.
5. What course of action will you do?
Issue: Corporal Punishment?
Held:
As the teacher of Juan, my first course of action is to ask his father why he is hitting Juan. According to
Article 220 (7) of the Family Code of the Philippines, the parents and those exercising parental authority
shall have with respect to their unemancipated children onwards the right and duty “to impose discipline
on them as may be required under the circumstances.” Likewise, under Article 218 of the same code,
“the school, its administrators and teachers, or individual, entity or institution engaged in child are shall
have special parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while under their supervision,
instruction or custody”
Based on the abovementioned articles, it can be inferred that the law has reserved the right to the parents to
discipline their children and permits the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary tool depending on the
circumstance. Senate Bill No. 1107 An Act Prohibiting the Act of Imposing Corporal Punishment on
Children defines corporate punishment as “the infliction of physical or mental violence or blows upon a
child as form of punishment or chastisement including public humiliation that is considered abusive,
degrading and not consistent with the child’s human dignity considering his/her physical and mental
immaturity”. Similarly, Senate Bill No. 1348 An Act to Promote Positive, Non-Violent Discipline or
Children, Prohibiting All Forms of Corporal Punishment, Humiliating and Degrading Treatment,
Providing Penalty therefor, Appropriating Funds and for Other Purposes defines corporal punishment as
“any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort,
however, light”.
Child abuse, on the other hand refers to the maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which
includes any of the following:
1. psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment;
2. any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a
child as a human being;
3. unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; or
4. failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious impairment
of his growth and development or in his permanent incapacity or death.
Republic Act No. 7610 An Act Providing for Stronger Deterrence and Special Protection against Child
Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination, and for other Purposes declares that “the State shall intervene on
behalf of the child when the parent, guardian, teacher or person having care or custody of the child fails or
is unable to protect the child against abuse, exploitation and discrimination or when such acts against the
child are committed by the said parent, guardian, teacher or person having care and custody of the same.”
There is no law in the Philippines clearly drawing the line between reasonable corporal punishment and
abuse. However, considering the facts presented, we can be certain that the act of hitting a child by a piece
of wood is a form of corporal punishment. Article 233 of the Family Code explicitly prohibits a “school
administrator, teacher of individual engaged in child care exercising special parental authority” to inflict
corporal punishment upon a child. The same cannot be said about parents who administer corporal
punishment as the prohibition does not extend to the domain of home and family.
As the teacher of Juan who also has the responsibility over the welfare of the child, I will ask his
father to explain to me what Juan has done to deserve such harsh punishment. I will ask Juan if his father
does this to him excessively and abusively. Finally, if I determine that this is not within the of reasonable
punishment, I will have to report the father to the authority