MANILA – Senators have differing opinions on the pending House of Representatives measure that seeks to lower the age of criminal liability to nine years old.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said in an interview that most of the senators were in favor of lowering the age of criminal liability but would only have to discuss the minimum age.
“But the important thing is that we all agreed that it should be lower and they should be held accountable,” Sotto said. “Nine is too much, kaya ‘yung proposal ko is 12 years old.”
Sotto has a pending bill before the Senate seeking to lower the minimum age of criminal liability to 12 years old and one day. Children who run in conflict of the law would not be jailed but instead be placed in a “Bahay Pag-asa” or a youth care facility.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson was also in favor of the measure under three conditions – if the offender acted with discernment, if sentencing is suspended until the offender reaches the age of majority, and there are enough reformative facilities.
“Nine is too young for criminal liability,” Lacson said. “I support the lowering of the age of criminal liability to a certain level depending on science-based testimonies of experts in the field of child psychology.”
Sen. Antonio Trillanes, meanwhile, called the measure “anti-family, anti-poor and simply unjust” and suggested children in conflict with law to undergo counseling and rehabilitation as an alternative to imprisonment.
“As somebody who has been imprisoned, I know that such a harsh environment will severely traumatize those children and would lead them further to a life of crime once they have served their sentence,” Trillanes said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, for his part, said lowering the age of criminal liability should be supported by evidence and not be enacted “on whims and unproven theories.”
“Ilan po ba ang drug lords na 9 years old sa bansa ngayon? Ilan po bang nuebe anyos ang sangkot sa kidnap-for-ransom? Mayroon po bang mga sampung taong gulang na kilabot na carnapper?”Recto said.
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, who authored the existing Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, said that going after minors is “convenient” for the government to let syndicates and corrupt government officials and policemen off the hook while making it appear that it is taking a strong stance against crime.
“How is this different from the current drug war where the small-time and the powerless are persecuted and killed while government officers, drug lords, and syndicates who allowed billion pesos worth of shabu out of Customs are not arrested or prosecuted?” he said.
The House of Representatives Justice committee approved on Monday an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act, lowering the age of criminal liability to nine from 15./PN
