The Asian Criminological Society (ACS) hosted its 11th Annual International Conference last June 23 to 26, 2019 at the Seda Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City. Participating in the four-day program were educators from the College of Criminal Justice (CCJ) of Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU), namely: Dean Zorobabel Laureles, Program Head Dr. John David (Pampanga Campus), and Practicum Coordinator George Saipen (Pampanga Campus).
With the conference carrying the theme, “Contextualizing Challenges in Criminology and Criminal Justice Asia”, the event was formally opened by ACS newly-elected President, Professor Setsuo Miyazawa, and incumbent National President and 11th ACS Convenor, Dr. Gerry Cano. Welcome Remarks were courtesy of Dr. Anna Lou Cabuenas, Chief Academic Officer of the University of Visayas.
Plenary sessions and open forums ensued. Professor John Bradford Braithwaite from the Australian National University spoke on “The State of Restorative Justice in Asia and the Pacific”. Post-lunch, the President of the Korean Institute of Criminology, Dr. In Sup Han, discussed “Criminological Theories That Shaped Criminal Justice Policies and Programs: The Korean Institute of Criminology Experience”. Afterwards, the delegates broke out into four simultaneous parallel sessions. OLFU’s Dr. Laureles attended one that focused on Environmental/ Ecological Crimes, Terrorism and Transnational Crimes. On the other hand, Dr. David’s session tackled Crime Prevention, Policing and Law Enforcement; while Mr. Saipen went for the cluster on Victimology, Women Offenders and Juveniles.
During Day 3 of the Conference, all three OLFU Criminologists jointly attended one of the day’s break-out sessions. Here, Mr. Saipen had the honor of presenting his research paper, “Sexual Harassment: An Occupational Hazard to Working Women in Call Center Industries”. Then, on the same day, guest speaker and author Professor Todd Clear talked about “Reinventing Punitive Justice and the Community Justice System”. Later in the day, attendees were given a tour of the Cebu City Jail.
On the final day of the conference, Fatima’s representatives chose a break-out, parallel session on “Forensics, Cybercrimes, Security and Safety”. Other highlights were the following topics: “The Criminology Profession vis-à-vis ASEAN Qualification Reference Framework, Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications and MRA” (by Atty. Ramil G. Gabao, Chairman of the Professional Board of Criminology), and “Industrial Security and Safety Auxiliary to Policing” (Dr. Estelito Dela Cruz, member of the Commission on Higher Education, Technical Committee on Industrial Security).
The affair was concluded with an invitation put forth by Shin’ichi Ishizuka to attend the 12th ACS Conference to be held in Kyoto, Japan in October 2020.
