THERE is this proposal from Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto to lower the age of criminal liability for juveniles in the country to 12 years old. His proposal contained in Senate Bill 2026 will seek to amend Republic Act 9344 which is the law that exempts children 15 years old and below from any criminal liability and the prospect of being incarcerated in jail.
Well, a lot can certainly be said about our children today. Perhaps children and juveniles that were 15 years old ten years ago would not know how to expertly manipulate computers and cellphones or be exposed to an information rich environment such as the internet.
Today no self-respecting and inquisitive child or juvenile would dare leave the security of the home for the outside world without having in his/her person either an iPhone, android, iPad, laptop or some other electronic thingamajig or gizmo that connects his/her life to the digital and high-tech world. This is the reality that the children of today are completely and absolutely exposed to, an environment to which we, adults, are still trying to fully understand and comprehend. We have to remember that the adults of today were not as familiar with such technological gadgets when they were at the same age as the youngsters now.
The children of today are more aware and cognizant of events happening around them because of the internet and the computer games and other online games that they play. In fact, the computer games that they play are totally immersive and interactive that these children and juveniles not only make decisions in the real world but also make difficult decisions, sometimes even life threatening ones for their characters in the game. This will tell us that the concept of right and wrong for the children of today is no longer dictated solely by the real world but the also the virtual world they have grown accustomed to.
This is the reality of the situation for our children of today.
If you ask me the age of discernment for today’s children is about nine to ten years old. At that age they would already know what is right and what is wrong.
Thus, the proposal of Senate President Sotto is just a way of attempting to adapt to the present situation and to offer a solution to the problem where minors 15 years old and below are used by adults for nefarious and criminal purposes knowing they cannot be jailed since they incur no criminal liability as mandated by Republic Act 9344 otherwise known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
Those who oppose such proposal would do well to live in communities where gang related activities are rampant and where so called “gangsters” thrive under the watchful eyes of criminal and drug syndicates.
Just very recently adults in a particular barangay in Metro Manila expressed their exasperation at the series of turf wars or rumbles initiated by warring youths in their area and expressed their disappointment in the inability of the authorities to prevent such occurrences.
For their part, the barangay officials who initially intervened in the rumble lamented that since most are minors they would simply be remanded to the custody of the DSWD where they are supposed to be rehabilitated and since the children know this it would be easy for them to go back their old ways of “gangsterism.”
This is the dilemma sought to be addressed by the proposal to reduce the age of criminal liability for the children of today.
The Bible teaches us that to “spare the rod would be to spoil the child.”