WITH the rise in the crime rate, there will be people who will seek justice. However, it may come in wrong or flawed form.
Last month, Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III filed a bill for the lowering of the age for criminal liability from 15 years old to 13 years old due to, according to him, “the alarming rise in the number of crimes involving minors.” His Senate Bill 2026 seeks to amend Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
“This is a giant leap backward. Based on its explanatory note, the Bill argues that lowering the age of criminal responsibility will curb criminality and stop adults from using children. This is a flawed argument. Already disadvantaged children, exploited by adults, should not be further penalized,” the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in a statement. Exactly.
The UNICEF came up with a firm argument in contradicting Sotto. Children who are born into poverty are already at a disadvantage and are given no choice but to mimic and obey their elders for their own survival.
John Lash recently wrote an article in the Vancouver Sun on the position of Pakistan’s Interior Minister regarding the age of criminal responsibility. The minister stated that children in Pakistan grow up faster than those elsewhere, thus he is helping in blocking efforts to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Pakistan from 8 years old to 12 years old.
But we can never truly measure whether a child is more developed than his or her peers or not. A child may be more developed in terms of intellect and may pursue many other undertakings. But that is not a strong argument in this matter.
Senator Sotto has a point. There is an alarming rise in the number of crimes involving minors. Also, an argument can be made that there are children who develop their thinking quicker than those of other children. Yet, we cannot say for sure that this is a reasonable and strong argument to lower the age of criminal liability because we cannot single out one child in a large population of children.
UNICEF makes a strong argument: children are already in a disadvantaged position, why should we penalize them for being exploited and manipulated by the adults? We should firmly take a stand in saying no to the lowering of the age of criminal liability and instead seek a stronger and better effort in finding the real criminals, who are the adults.--Jamie Love R. Salvador, Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, University of San Jose-Recoletos
Election season
We know that the election season is already here when we see many Facebook posts praising this or that personality or attacking this or that government official. This can be seen in Mandaue City where the rivals also have their supporters on Facebook and other platforms.
Mayor Luigi Quisumbing is now battling the group of Congressman Jonas Cortes and their supporters are active on Facebook. Ato ni silang bantayan.--Tirso Duhaylungsod, Cebu City