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Psychiatrists to Sara: Kids make mistakes, not commit crimes


Psychiatrists and child rights advocates on Thursday took exception to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte's recent Instagram statement that children were capable of committing crimes.

President Rodrigo Duterte's eldest daughter made the remarks to support the measure proposing to lower the age of criminal liability to 12 and in an apparent reply to Senator Risa Hontiveros statement that doing so was "immoral, unscientific and ineffective."

"Alam naman natin na maraming bata ang nagkakamali," Dr. Cornelio Banaag, the former president of the Philippine Society for Child and Adult Psychiatry said at a press conference.

"Pero ang punto ngayon is yung age of criminal responsibility.  Kung nagkamali ba yung bata na nine years old, criminal na siya?" he added.

"Nasa kamay ng ating mga senador at mga legislators ang definition ng age of criminal responsibility. Tinatanggihan lang ng maraming grupo ay 'yung pagbaba nga nung edad," Banaag said.

The House of Representatives on Monday approved House Bill 8858 that would lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years old.

A committee report in the Senate is also proposing the same age adjustment in the country's Juvenile Justice Law.

Hontiveros in a statement last week called out what she called the "false debate" surrounding the proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in the country, saying that both proposals to make nine year old or twelve year old children criminally liable were "immoral, unscientific and ineffective."

In her Instagram, Sara said, "The Madame who said that lowering the age of criminal liability to 12 years old as immoral, unscientific and ineffective is clearly out of touch with reality."

"This person has not regularly read police reports, have not talked to social welfare workers or has worked on grassroots issues. This Madame and her like minded friends compare other well developed countries to the Philippines as if the culture, the psyche, the circumstances are the same," Sara said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, children are capable of commiting crimes. Put that in your head. Wag na sana kayo mag pretend na anghel ang mga bata, wala po tayo sa langit," she added.

Sara said there had been documented cases of 12, 13, and 14 year old children "committing rape, murder, theft, robbery, drug smuggling, drug peddling even arson."

"If you do not want them in jail with adults put them in your child in conflict with the law age appropriate jail," Sara said.

Dr. Bernadette Madrid, who heads the Child Protection Network, said the discourse should result in a response that would be effective in inspiring the child offender to change.

"Wala tayong diskusyon tungkol sa anong puwedeng magawa ng isang bata, puwede silang gumawa kahit ano," Madrid said.

"'Yung ating diskusyon ay 'yung magiging response sa behavior ng batang 'yan, and anong magiging effective na response para magbago. so yun yung ating pagtutol," she added.

"Maraming batang nagkakamali, maraming kailangan tulungan natin, pero to declare those mistakes and errors as criminal, 'yun ang ino-oppose natin, lalo na kung 9 years old o 12 years old," Banaag said.

House Bill 8858, once passed into law, would supersede both RA 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 and RA 10630 which amended it — both of which set the minimum criminal liability age at 15 years old.

Legislators originally proposed to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 9 years, but they were quick to adjust it to 12 following the strong resistance from opposition lawmakers and children’s rights advocates. —NB, GMA News

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