CAT/C/PHL/CO/3 Children in conflict with the law and holding centres 29. The Committee is deeply concerned at the situation of children in conflict with the law, in particular in the Metro Manila and Mindanao regions, who are detained in holding centres or “houses of hope”, where there is often no separation between girls and boys. These children, some of whom have not even committed crimes, are held in preventive detention for long periods without access to a lawyer, in overcrowded cells with poor lighting and ventilation that do not meet minimum international standards. It is also concerned that child offenders are kept in regular prisons and are not separated from adult detainees (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 30. The State party should: (a) Ensure that children are detained as a measure of last resort and that children who are detained have access to a lawyer and are not held in pretrial detention for long periods; (b) Ensure that children are held separately from adults and that girls are separated from boys; (c) Investigate all reports of torture and ill-treatment of children in conflict with the law; (d) Ensure that juvenile justice and the conditions of detention of children meet international standards; (e) Turn over children in conflict with the law to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and provide appropriate training to social workers, judges and all personnel in contact with the children. National preventive mechanism 31. The Committee is concerned that, more than four years since its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, the State party has not yet established a national preventive mechanism (art. 2). 32. The State party should expedite, without delay, the creation of a national preventive mechanism based on a legislative act. It should ensure that the mechanism has all the resources necessary to fully carry out its mandate independently and effectively, in conformity with the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure regular monitoring of places of detention by non-governmental organizations, to complement the monitoring undertaken by the national preventive mechanism. National human rights institution 33. The Committee is concerned that the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines does not have sufficient human and financial resources to allow for the full and effective implementation of its wide-ranging mandate, including the carrying out of regular and unannounced visits to all places of deprivation of liberty in all regions of the country. It is also concerned at the delays in the adoption of the charter of the Commission on Human Rights (art. 2). 34. The State party should: (a) Provide the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines with full functional, structural and financial support so that it can carry out its mandate effectively, in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles); 9