Monday, August 06, 2007 Mayor to campaign vs Kiko for drafting juvenile law By Ben O. Tesiorna
AFTER calling Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan a "stupid copy cat" for pushing a law patterned after the juvenile justice system of first-world Europe, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte this time vowed to campaign against the senator if ever he runs for a higher position in the future elections.
In his television program "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa" Sunday, Duterte said Pangilinan is eyeing the presidency in the near future and if the senator is thinking that the juvenile law is his passport to the position then he is dead wrong.
"Kiko is my friend, but if he runs for president do not vote for him. Dadalhin tayo niyan sa basurahan (he will bring us to the dumpster) with his mindset. He will bring this country down if ganyan ang takbo ng utak niya," Duterte said of Pangilinan.
The mayor has been criticizing Pangilinan for sometime now after Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act was passed and signed into law late last year.
Duterte blamed the law for the upsurge on the number of children in conflict with the law (CICL) not just in the city but the entire Davao Region and the country as well.
Southern Mindanao Police Regional Director Andres Caro said from 2004-2006, they have recorded an average of 500 cases involving CICL's in the entire region.
This year though, in just the first semester, they have already recorded 866 cases of CICL's.
"The surge on the number of juvenile delinquents is an indication that something is wrong with the law," Duterte said.
Asked if he would change his decision to campaign against Pangilinan once the controversial law authored by the senator is revised or amended to his liking, Duterte said it's not likely to happen.
"Wala nay otro-otro dinhi (This cannot be changed). He now has to solve this problem which has become too big for him to handle," Duterte said.
The mayor also blames the 13th Congress for passing such a law without making a comprehensive study about it.
He said the law was obviously copied by its proponents from an American legislation but without an in-depth study.
In a television interview last week, Senator Pangilinan insisted that CICL's can still be confined "involuntarily" if their release would not be for the best interest of the young offenders.
Pangilinan said CICL's who have committed serious offenses like murder, homicide, rape, physical injury and other crimes against persons can be placed under the care of a rehabilitation facility and not to be released to their parents.
Pangilinan said serious offenses are considered exemptions to the general rule of the law that "children 15 and under are not criminally-liable and must immediately be released to their parents".
The senator said the liability of the CICL's are also not extinguished contrary to the common notion.
He said CICL's can still be held liable for their crimes but in a "child appropriate process" under the new Juvenile Justice System and not the usual criminal prosecution process.
Pangilinan said those found to be liable will then undergo rehabilitation or be ordered to render community service instead of incarceration.
The senator admitted that there are a lot of changes or improvement that has to be made on the new law.
He cited the problem on infrastructures, the availability of social workers and information dissemination as the areas that need improving.
Mayor Duterte meanwhile said he plans to read more about Juvenile Justice so he could go to Congress and show his former colleagues just how stupid they were when they passed the law which he said is a "recipe for a revolution."
Asked what advice he could give to the lawmakers with regards to RA 9344, Duterte said it would be best for us to go back to the 1935 Philippine Constitution and restore the original penal laws stipulated therein.
