ILOILO – Lowering the age of criminal liability is good, according to Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
The House Committee on Justice approved on Monday a bill lowering the age of criminal liability from 15 to nine years old, amending Republic Act (RA) 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
“Tama lang siguro ‘yun. There are crimes perpetrated by 10-year-old or 11-year-old kids. ‘Yung iba nga pumapatay pa, humo-hold-up,” said Tayaba yesterday.
In fact, the IPPO director revealed, just this Jan. 20 the San Enrique, Iloilo police station caught four teenaged boys – aged 16, 15 and 14 – stealing a motorcycle.
“Imagine mo, nag–motornap sila,” said Tayaba.
The four youngsters were “repeat offenders”, he added, having stolen motorcycles, too, in Passi City, Lambunao, and Estancia towns.
But the campaign against juvenile delinquents should not end with the young offenders, said Tayaba.
The parents must have liability, too, he stressed, citing RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).
According to Tayaba, most the crimes that minors committed in the province were robbery, theft and physical injury.
He, however, stressed there were no groups using or manipulating these juvenile delinquents.
“Sa area of responsibility namin wala masyadong gangs. Those erring youngsters committed crimes on their own volition. Nobody encouraged them,” said Tayaba.
According to the House Committee on Justice chairperson Oriental Mindoro’s Cong. Salvador Leachon, the bill was brought about by the increase in the number of criminal syndicates using minors to carry out criminal acts.
The lawmaker also noted that the original minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in the Revised Penal Code was nine years old. This was only changed after almost 70 years in 2006 upon the effectivity of RA 9344, which increased the MACR to 15.
“It is high time to pass this bill to protect our children from being used by ruthless and unscrupulous criminal syndicates to evade prosecution and punishment,” said Leachon.
He, however, clarified that children who commit criminal acts would not be thrown in jail but in reformative institutions like Bahay Pag-asa.
“Let it be understood that with the present bill, we are not putting these children in jail but in reformative institutions to correct their ways and bring them back to the community. They are not branded as criminals but children in conflict with law,” he said.
Reformative institutions do not punish individuals; they help children to be integrated back to the community after they have committed criminal acts, Leachon said./PN
