Thursday, May 01, 2008 Advocates oppose amendments to juvenile law By Rimaliza Opiña
COMMUNITY service is a better penalty for minors who commit crimes rather than treating them like ordinary criminals.
Opposed to the resolution passed by the City Council, which called on Baguio Representative Mauricio Domogan to file a bill, which brings down criminal liability among minors to 10 years old instead of 15 as contained in the law, members of the Juvenile Justice Network said the City Government should instead strengthen the community service system as a form of "punishment" for minor offenders.
Lawyer Alberto Muyot, a child protection specialist, said attempts at lowering criminal liability to 10 has to be backed up by scientific study similar to what was done when Congress passed the Juvenile Justice Law, which prescribes a minors criminal liability at age 15.
"It was not an age cast in stone, it is a product of research (attempts) at adjusting the age of criminal liability must likewise be backed by data," Muyot said pointing out in several studies, minors aged 12 to 17 years old do not have a clear distinction of what is morally right or wrong. He said children this age base their convictions on what is acceptable to their peers.
The City Council is pushing for amendments to the Juvenile Justice Law after observing victims of child offenders are at the losing end because of the law bars filing of charges for minors aged below 15 years old.
However, Muyot said amending law does not solve the problem. While admitting there are grave offenses committed by minors, he said these are far, few and in between and majority of the cases as documented by the Juvenile Justice Network petty crimes like theft.
"The commission of crimes is aggravated not just by poverty but also because of the lack of guidance from parents or responsible adults," Muyot said, reiterating minor offenders are victims of adult exploitation.
The Juvenile Justice Network is being urged to follow the American justice model where minors undergo trial like adult offenders.
Muyot said this could not be implemented in the country, for under the UN Declaration on the Convention of the Rights of The Child, certain minors are exempt from criminal liability.
The Philippines happens to be a signatory to the declaration, Muyot reminded.
He said if community service is strengthened, minor offenders are not the only ones who will gain advantage but their parents as well, for they too would have to undergo counseling.
Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, chairman of the City Council committee on women and children, social services and urban poor, said he supports the move, adding that the city's ordinance on community service deserves to be reviewed by council and come up with ways to improve its implementation.
The City Government supports the proposed amendments to the law because of difficulty implementing the curfew ordinance and the youth involvement in gang wars.
Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez said many minors who were apprehended for violating the ordinance usually invoke the law, bringing law enforcement officials to release them after referral to the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
However, Muyot suggested for the City Council to study possibility of preventing recruitment of minors into joining gangs.
Councilor Fred Bagbagen volunteered to sponsor an ordinance, which would ban and punish recruitment into fraternities.
