GMA News Online News » Nation

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a bill that would require parents to pay for the crimes of their children who are still minors.
 
Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 mandates that offenders 15 years old and below shall be exempted from any criminal liability.
 
Santiago's Senate Bill 3102 seeks to hold the parents or guardians of these offenders personally liable in an amount of not less than P50,000 but not more than P100,000 for the damages caused by the following acts:

• malicious and wilful injury to the person of another;
• malicious and wilful injury or damage to the property of another, whether the property be real, personal, or mixed:
• willful taking, stealing, and carrying away of the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession;
• exploitation of another minor child by using him, directly or indirectly, such as for purposes of begging and other acts which are inimical to his interest and welfare; and
• possession, handling, or carrying of a deadly weapon, regardless of its ownership.

 
"Because they [parents] have the primary right to rear their children in the manner they see fit, parents should also be held responsible for malicious acts committed by their children," Santiago said in her explanatory note.
 
"Parents will spend more time and effort in monitoring the activities of their children when they are fully aware that they will be held personally accountable for their children's actions, through the payment for damages caused by any minor child," she added.
 
The bill is pending at the committee level. — ELR, GMA News