Palace rains on Catriona Gray’s parade

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT AND NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

HOME / NEWS / TOP STORIES / PALACE RAINS ON CATRIONA GRAY’S PARADE

Malacañang on Thursday rained on 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray’s parade as it criticized her stand against the bill lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility, saying she was “misinformed.”

FIT FOR A QUEEN Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray waves to spectators during her parade on the streets of Manila on Thursday, the day after her return to the Philippines. PHOTO BY RUSSELL PALMA

On the day of her homecoming parade, Gray was urged by Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo to study the measure that seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

“She may have been misinformed of the facts given that the opposition to the lowering comes from yung mga dating kritiko ng administrasyon [the critics of the Duterte administration],” Panelo told reporters in a news briefing.

He also told Gray that the bill would not place children behind bars, and instead would rehabilitate them.

Gray, an advocate of children’s rights, said the country should focus on addressing the reasons why children commit crimes instead of lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

“We are precisely focusing on the problem because the problem is they are engaged in crimes. So what will we do? We will have to rehabilitate them. Learn why they committed these crimes and then put them back to society,” Panelo said.

“But I’m glad that she mentioned that. It only means that she’s also concerned, which every Filipino citizen should have, that kind of concern,” he added.

“I worked a lot with children and everybody knows that children are not disposed to do that kind of act or to act out in that way. And it really is probably a consequence of their circumstance or their environment or external pressures, whether it be from people or circumstance,” Gray said.

She added that the country should focus on removing pressures on children and educate parents and communities about these difficulties.

“I feel like that would be a better long-term solution rather than locking up kids. Or not locking up kids, but you know, once you label a child in a way that a child is in conflict with the law, how are you bringing them up to see themselves?” Gray said.

Homecoming

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos lined the streets for a glimpse of Gray during her homecoming parade in Metro Manila.

Beautiful in her sampaguita-inspired terno by Mak Tumang, she charmed everyone with her grace and energy aboard a grand float designed after her diamond-and-pearl-studded Mikimoto crown and Tumang’s fiery Mayon Volcano Lava gown which she wore on her big win.

Gray waved, danced and blew kisses, grateful for the love and support of throngs of well-wishers lining the streets from Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City through Manila’s Roxas Boulevard, Kalaw Street, Taft Avenue, and Makati’s Gil Puyat and Ayala avenues.

Confetti rained on the beauty queen’s float especially along Ayala Avenue, where the crowd showed the most enthusiasm.

She has been active in working for the cause of children’s welfare — particularly, the impoverished ones — even before she was crowned Miss Universe last year.

In the final answer that sealed her victory in the prestigious pageant, Gray cited working for the children in the slums of Tondo, Manila, and how she tried to teach herself the beauty and “silver lining” amid their poor conditions.

Congress seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current 15 years old.

The House of Representatives already approved the bill, seeking to bring down the criminal liability threshold to 12 years old.

The Senate, on the other hand failed to approve a counterpart bill before it went on a break, but it is expected to pass a similar bill once sessions resume.

Under a bill pending in the Senate, children from 12 years old who commit crimes would be sent to a youth care facility for rehabilitation.
It also proposed to send minors who commit serious offenses like murder, homicide and rape to a Juvenile Reformatory Center.

Numerous groups and individuals oppose the proposed measure, saying the government should instead focus on improving the implementation of the current Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

Personalities including Anne Curtis and Gray’s fellow beauty queen, Miss Intercontinental 2018 Karen Gallman, said that 12 years old is too young.

President Rodrigo Duterte has pushed for a lower age of criminal responsibility, saying the current law shielding minors of certain ages from criminal prosecution has produced a “generation of criminals.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DoT) on Thursday said President Duterte wanted Gray to be the government’s tourism envoy once her term ends, a move that was eyed to translate positively for the country’s tourism industry.

This was bared by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat during the DoT’s launch of the refreshed tourism campaign “It’s More Fun In The Philippines.”

“He actually said that after her term, [he] wants her to be like an envoy for tourism. Even before she won as Miss Universe she was already promoting our country and so it’s but fitting,” she said, adding that Duterte expressed his intent to tap Gray during her courtesy call last December.

The Tourism secretary was referring to Gray’s two-part “This is the Philippines” tourism videos, which explained the origin of her national costume and showed clips of the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, among others.

The DoT in an earlier statement said Gray was able to “single-handedly” lead more people all over the world to discover that it was “more fun in the Philippines.”

“Amid Miss Gray’s preparations prior to heading for Thailand [for the 2018 Miss Universe pageant], she took precious time to do a series of video clips promoting unique and fascinating destinations and diverse cultures: Luzon’s Rizal Park [Luneta] and world-renowned El Nido, Palawan, the resilience of the Visayan people particularly in Tacloban City, and Mindanao’s multi-faceted South Cotabato,” it noted.

Puyat said the DoT was looking forward to “strengthening” its collaboration with Gray and that they were set to meet with Gray next week for a possible tourism promotion collaboration.

The DoT previously asked 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach to be one of its tourism ambassadors, alongside boxing icon and senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, to promote the Philippine tourism industry.

“As Catriona herself said, she represents the one hundred and four million Filipinos… We look forward to continuing and strengthening our collaboration with her in the coming year,” Puyat earlier said.

Gray, the fourth Filipina Miss Universe, is in the country for her grand homecoming events.

https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-rains-on-catriona-grays-parade/515543/