Gov't agencies, civic groups oppose lowering age of criminal liability

Several government agencies and civil society groups on Tuesday jointly voiced their opposition to the House bill lowering the age of criminal liability to nine years old, and urged the government to instead address loopholes in the juvenile law.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) led a press conference attended by representatives from the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, Unchain Children, Civil Society Coalition on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Philippine Action for Youth and Offenders, United Nations Children’s Fund, Psychological Association of the Philippines and Child Rights Network.

CHR Commissioner Leah Tanodra-Armamento said since the government already lacks the facilities and funding, lowering the age of criminal responsibility can only make matters worse for juveniles when they are imprisoned.

"Everybody knows our jails are overly congested. Detention is torture by itself. To lower the age to nine will be a nightmare not only to a child but also to jail management," Armamento said.

She added the Bahay Pag-asa facilities, a program for children in conflict with the law (CICL), are not even fully utilized due to lack of budget.

CHR Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit, for her part, said the bill particularly violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"This measure will not only regress but will reverse the trajectory towards the fulfillment of children's rights," she said.

Meanwhile, CWC executive director Mitzi Cajayon-Uy said children have long been ignored by the government’s policies aside from issues on women. She said the bill only politicizes another marginalized sector.

“Ang pinaka-sektor na pinakanakakaawa ay bata at walang pumapansing pulitiko sa bata dahil hindi sila botante. Ang nakakalungkot kasi ang mga bata ang siyang nagiging biktima ng pamumulitika ng ating mga namumuno,” Cajayon-Uy said.

Science-based

According to Dr. Liane Alampay of the Psychiatric Association of the Philippines, children tend to be more vulnerable to coercion from adults and therefore should not be punished from their actions.

"Children and adolescents are vulnerable to coercion. Wala silang kalayaaan para magdesiyson kung ano gagawin sakaling may matanda na umutos sa kanila na gumawa ng masamang bagay," Alampay said.

Alampay warned that detention may drive children to commit crimes when they become adults.

"Detention itself can increase recidivism. The very act of being detained makes it more likely they will continue to commit crimes 'pag nakalabas sila and can relapse into criminal behavior after detention," she said.

"Children who go through community-based intervention programs are less likely to return to crime by as much as 80 percent," Alampay added.

UNICEF Philippines’ Atty. Margarita Ardivilla warned that children may be abused by syndicates when they are detained at normal jail facilities.

Under the House bill, a child nine years old and below at the time of the commission of offense would be exempted from criminal liability, while those above nine years old but under 18 years old would be exempted from criminal liability unless the minor acted with discernment.

A separate bill is pending at the committee level in the Senate seeking the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years old. —KBK, GMA News