Minors commit more crimes

CEBU CITY -- Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal is right. Crimes committed by minors are rising, as confirmed by records of government prosecutors and regular briefings of the police.

In the first quarter of 2009, there were no cases involving minors in Cebu. But at the beginning of the last quarter of 2009, there were at least 22.

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Most of the cases came from the Office of the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor, which has jurisdiction over the municipalities, but it is not because there are more incidents in the province.

There’s a glitch in the recording process. The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor only lists cases where minors serve as the complainants or when they are the victim, not when they are the respondents or the suspects.

Meanwhile, a rising number of gang-related incidents has prompted Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador to reactivate the Anti-Street Hoodlums Team (A-Shot). It’s supposed to run after gang members who engaged in crime.

Comendador said the team, composed of six dedicated police officers headed by Senior Inspector Bonifacio Garciano, will resume operations this week.

The chief said he decided to reactivate the team because in every security planning, the problem of gang wars always came up among the top peace and order concerns.

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal commented last week that the problem of juvenile delinquency is “growing”.

He called on the Archdiocesan Commission on the Youth and other church organizations to meet with him within the month to come up with solutions.

He plans to ask legislators to review the Juvenile Justice Law, after a 14-year-old acolyte was shot dead in a robbery by four men, one of them a minor.

In January and February this year, the Homicide Section recorded at least 10 attacks blamed on members of either Bloods or Crips Gang. Four victims died in the attacks.

In the same period last year, only one such case was recorded.

Comendador identified Barangays Carreta, Sambag, Guadalupe, Pardo, Tejero, Labangon, and Panganiban as the areas where gangs are problematic.

He expects the revived A-Shot team to make an impact. Its responsibilities are not limited to patrolling. Its operatives are also tasked to serve warrants against gang members.

Apart from reactivating the team, Comendador said he also ordered all the station commanders of the concerned barangays to ask the parents of gang members to watch over their children better.

Records at the prosecution offices also support the archbishop’s observation.

In the second quarter of 2009, five incidents of crimes were blamed on juveniles, based on the report prepared by Administrative Officer Cecil Gadrinab to Cebu Provincial Prosecutor Jane Petralba.

The five complaints were docketed under preliminary investigation, which dragged on to the next quarter.

A total of 17 more complaints were filed in the succeeding months.

Six of the incidents were filed under regular preliminary investigation, meaning the perpetrators were not arrested following the crime. The remaining 11 incidents resulted in inquest.

Of the six under preliminary investigation, three were dismissed while the three others were brought up to the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

Of the 11 under inquest, all were endorsed for trial.

The remaining five incidents were carried over to the last quarter of the year; a comprehensive statistical report has yet to be released.

Republic Act (RA) 9344, the Juvenile Justice Act, governs the process involving a child in conflict with the law.

It provides that no child 15 or younger at the time of his or her commission of the crime may be held responsible.

“A child above 15 years but below 18 years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this Act,” the law says.

The Supreme Court further relaxed the process by amending those provisions of the Rules of Court that cover children.

In Administrative Matter 02-1-18-SC, the High Court declared that no child, even if found guilty during trial, will ever see the inside of a jail cell. 

“If the child is found guilty of the offense charged, the court, instead of executing the judgment of conviction, shall place the child in conflict with the law under suspended sentence, without need of application,” Section 48 reads.

Not even if they reach legal age while still in custody.

Charged youth offenders can have their sentences suspended even after they reach 18, the country’s current legal age, as long as they are below 21 at the time they are pronounced guilty. (Karlon N. Rama and Jovy T. Gerodias/Sun.Star Cebu)