WILL criminalizing children address the increasing crime rate in the country? Certainly not.
Even government data shows that only two percent of the crimes are committed by children and most of it are poverty-related crimes.
The profile of children in conflict with the law shows they come from poor families and lack basic education. Holding children as young as nine or 12 years old criminally liable and making them suffer inside detention cells is tantamount to state neglect and abandonment. Instead of criminalizing children, the government should address the roots of poverty that these children continue to live in.
The government better implement fully Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. The law promotes restorative justice and recognizes the social context why children commit crimes – poverty, dismal social services, the lack of employment of their parents and the lack of child rearing support from the government.
The state should prioritize the funding of prevention and rehabilitation programs for children in conflict with the law. Right now, there are only eight Department of Social Welfare and Development-accredited Bahay Pag-asa out of 58 Bahay Pag-asa in the county. According to some studies, the condition of Bahay Pag-Asa is worse than prison because of the lack of food, beddings, staff, and other supplies in these facilities. The move to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current 15 years old is a clear act of admission by the government that it failed to provide services to children involved in criminalities.
Not a few are enraged with this move in Congress. Scientific studies suggest that developmental immaturity of children must be considered and should mitigate their criminal culpability.
