Care and Education of Children

Civil Code of the Philippines: Care and Education of Children

This post serves as notes on the topic Civil Code of the Philippines: Care and Education of Children.

Article 356.

Every child:

(1) Is entitled to parental care;

(2) Shall receive at least elementary education;

(3) Shall be given moral and civic training by the parents or guardian;

(4) Has a right to live in an atmosphere conducive to his physical, moral and intellectual development.

Article 357.

Every child shall:

(1) Obey and honor his parents or guardian;

(2) Respect his grandparents, old relatives, and persons holding substitute parental authority;

(3) Exert his utmost for his education and training;

(4) Cooperate with the family in all matters that make for the good of the same.

Article 358.

Every parent and every person holding substitute parental authority shall see that the rights of the child are respected and his duties complied with, and shall particularly, by precept and example, imbue the child with high-mindedness, love of country, veneration for the national heroes, fidelity to democracy as a way of life, and attachment to the ideal of permanent world peace.

Article 359

The government promotes the full growth of the faculties of every child. For this purpose, the government will establish, whenever possible:

(1) Schools in every barrio, municipality and city where optional religious instruction shall be taught as part of the curriculum at the option of the parent or guardian;

(2) Puericulture and similar centers;

(3) Councils for protecting Children; and

(4) Juvenile courts.

Article 360

The Council for the Protection of Children shall look after the welfare of children in the municipality. It shall, among other functions:

(1) Foster the education of every child in the municipality;

(2) Encourage the cultivation of the duties of parents;

(3) Protect and assist abandoned or mistreated children, and
orphans;

(4) Take steps to prevent juvenile delinquency;

(5) Adopt measures for the health of children;

(6) Promote the opening and maintenance of playgrounds;

(7) Coordinate the activities of organizations devoted to the welfare of children and secure their cooperation.

Article 361

Juvenile courts will be established, as far as practicable, in every chartered city or large municipality.

Article 362

Whenever a child is found delinquent by any court, the father, mother, or guardian may in a proper case be judicially admonished.

Article 363

In all questions on the care, custody, education and property of children, the latter’s welfare shall be paramount. No mother shall be separated from her child under seven years of age, unless the court finds compelling reasons for such measure.

Presidential Decree 603 CHAPTER IV Liabilities of Parents

Article 58. Torts

• Parents and guardians are responsible for the damage caused by the child under their parental authority in accordance with the Civil Code.

Article 59. Crimes.

Criminal liability shall attach to any parent who:

1. Conceals or abandons the child with intent to make such child lose his civil status.
2. Abandons the child under such circumstances as to deprive him of the love, care and protection he needs.
3. Sells or abandons the child to another person for valuable consideration.
4. Neglects the child by not giving him the education which the family’s station in life and financial conditions permit.
5. Fails or refuses, without justifiable grounds, to enroll the child as required by Article 72.

Article 72. Assistance.

• To implement effectively the compulsory education policy, all necessary assistance possible shall be given to parents, specially indigent ones or those who need the services of children at home, to enable the children to acquire at least an elementary education. Such assistance may be in the form of special school programs which may not require continuous attendance in school, or aid in the form of necessary school supplies, school lunch, or whatever bars to a child’s attendance in school or access to elementary education.

6. Causes, abates, or permits the truancy of the child from the school where he is enrolled. “Truancy” as here used means absence without cause for more than twenty schooldays, not necessarily consecutive.
7. It shall be the duty of the teacher in charge to report to the parents the absences of the child the moment these exceed five schooldays.
8. Improperly exploits the child by using him, directly or indirectly, such as for purposes of begging and other acts which are inimical to his interest and welfare.
9. Inflicts cruel and unusual punishment upon the child or deliberately subjects him to indignation and other excessive chastisement that embarrass or humiliate him.
10. Causes or encourages the child to lead an immoral or dissolute life.
11. Permits the child to possess, handle or carry a deadly weapon, regardless of its ownership.
12. Allows or requires the child to drive without a license or with a license, which the parent knows to have been illegally procured. If the motor vehicle driven by the child belongs to the parent, it shall be presumed that they permitted or ordered the child to drive.

Article 60. Penalty.

The act mentioned in the preceding article shall be punishable with imprisonment from two or six months or a fine not exceeding five hundred pesos, or both, at the discretion of the Court, unless a higher penalty is provided for in the Revised Penal Code or special laws, without prejudice to actions for the involuntary commitment of the child under Title VIII of this Code.