GROUP 7

Lowering the Criminal Age Imprisonment (PRO)

One of the most contentious issues in juvenile justice policy is determining the
minimum age of criminal responsibility . There is a large variation around the
world on what the appropriate age is, and even within nations differences exist
depending upon the nature of the crime and the jurisdiction.

The House committee on justice approved the bill that would lower the
minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 9 years old.

The justice panel gave its thumbs up to the substitute bill that would
amend Republic Act (RA) 10630, the law that currently retains the minimum age
of criminal liability at 15 but allows children as young as 12 to be detained in
youth care facilities or Bahay Pag-asa for serious crimes only such as rape,
murder, and homicide, among others.

Recent news and reports show an alarming increase in the number of

syndicates using minors to perpetrate criminal acts and it is but the time to pass
this bill to protect our children from being used by ruthless and unscrupulous
criminal syndicates to evade prosecution and punishment. (Rep. Doy Leachon,
2019)

Crimes covered by the bill were murder, parricide, infanticide, serious illegal
detention, car-jacking and violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

President Rodrigo Duterte previously urged Congress to lower the age of

criminal liability to ensure that "the Filipino youth would accept responsibility for
their actions and be subjected to government intervention
programmes".Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the measure
would deter criminals from corrupting children and turning them into criminals.
RA 10630 previously amended RA 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act
of 2006, which sets the age of criminal responsibility at 15 years old.

House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo supports the move in Congress to

lower the age of criminal liability despite opposition from the Commission on
Human Rights (CHR). Passed in 2013, RA 10630 amended RA 9344 or the Juvenile
Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, which was signed by Arroyo when she was
President. RA 9344 sets the age of criminal responsibility to 15 years old.

Now we have an update on the campaign against crime in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte has gone outside the law in that campaign,
welcoming thousands of extrajudicial killings. Philippine lawmakers are also
debating a change in the law itself. This change would allow children as young
as 12 to be held criminally responsible as if they are adults. ( Steeve Inskeep
Host, 2019).

By lowering the age of criminality to 9, we will be creating kindergarten prisons,

and instead of rehabilitating children, these will become finishing schools for
young criminals, their impressionable minds tutored by the best in the trade.
(Senator Grace Poe, 2019)