Lowering age of criminal responsibility a 'brewing concern' —Robredo

Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday expressed concern over the proposed measures lowering the age of criminal liability to nine years old and the reinstatement of death penalty.

"Children and youth have lost loved ones to the war on drugs, 7,600 deaths so far are giving out a silent cry that few seem to care. Plus there is a brewing concern. The age of criminal responsibility made lower from 15 to 9 years old supposedly so children can understand responsibility and so our nation can, I quote, 'Stop producing a generation of criminals,'" Robredo said in a speech during a youth forum in Quezon City.

"Can you imagine a 9 year old imprisoned for crime? This is on top of the fact that the death penalty will be imposed soon," she added.

Robredo, on the other hand, said she is hoping that her generation had given the youth a "better world than this."

"How I wish we your elders gave you a better world than this. How i wish we your parents were able to fix our country's problems before you reached teenage years," Robredo said.

Robredo also praised the youth, saying that there has never been as energetic and creative as "millennials" these days.

"The future lies in the youth today holds more power now than at any other time in the history of mankind. The generation of new millennials are about to take over the world, in fact you are taking over the world, changing the world," she said.

Robredo has been a staunch critic of the proposal to further lower the age of criminal liability and as well as the re-imposition of the death penalty.

House Bill 002 is currently pending in Congress which seeks to bring back the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 9 as stated in the Revised Penal Code.

The said measure was filed by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro.

War for life

Robredo also noted the "silent crisis" of hunger and malnutrition—particularly stunting—as among problems encountered by today's youth.

She invited participants at Saturday's forum to join in her office's Angat Buhay program.

The initiative is now a six-point advocacy program, focused on rural development, maternal and child healthcare, women empowerment, education, food security, and housing.

"[Our program] goes to the root of society’s problems, instead of treating its symptoms. Drug abuse and criminality are symptoms of poverty. They can’t be solved by summary executions alone, whether of the rich or poor. We cannot achieve real peace—the kind that keeps our people safe at night—by creating more desperation among a people traumatized by the senseless sight of blood on the streets," she said.

"We solve it by fighting in the war for life: by upholding the principles of liberty and freedom to speak dissent, by empowering both the rich and the poor, the private sector and the government sector, the young and old, to be part of the process of nation-building," she added.

She urged them to help in finding solutions to these woes, calling the youth "powerful in [their] own right."

"This is the time to move forward with audacity and hope, because while you have the luxury of time, our country cannot afford to wait," she said. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc and Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/ALG, GMA News