DSWD suggests 12 years as age of criminal liability

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Tuesday that it disagreed with the House Committee on Justice's attempt to lower the age of criminal liability to 9 years old.

The DSWD instead suggested that the age of liability be lowered to 12 years old, as this was in accordance with international standards, provided the agenda of the law was to guide the child to change and be able to return to the community.

"Not lower than 12 years old. Ito ay bunsod mula sa ibat ibang pag-aaral at research na ginawa ng department," DSWD's spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova told GMA 7 news program "24 Oras".

“The position of the DSWD is to maintain the MACR at the age of 12 years old. Not lower than 12 years old. Ito ay bunsod sa iba’t ibang pag-aaral din naman at mga researches na ginawa ng departamento at we stand by the international standard of the UN-CRC na ang pagse-set ng MACR ng lower than 12 years old is not commendable or internationally not acceptable for us,” Relova told GMA News.

Relova cited three international documents as bases: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines) and UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules).

“We factored in yung exposure din ng mga bata sa different educational access and opportunities. At the age of 9 very limited pa din naman yung educational opportunities for them. Samantalang kung ito ay 12 years old nandoon na sila sa grade 7. Kasi ang 9 years old grade 3 lang yata yan. Yung full faculty ng maturity ng isang bata ay hindi niya na-a-achieve at the age of 9 years old,” Relova said.

While the DSWD is in favor of lowering the minimim age of criminal responsibility, Ravelo reminded lawmakers crafting the bill to focus on restorative justice.

“Ang esensya naman talaga ng batas is for us to protect the best interest of the child. Kinakailangan kung gumawa man ang ating kabataan ng hindi naayon sa batas bigyan natin sila ng isa pang pagkakataon. Ma-assess natin sila at mabalik natin sila sa komunidad at maging productive citizens din sila,” Ravelo added.

After the House Committee approved the lowering of the  age of criminal liability to 9 years old, organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children, as well as lawmakers protested the House's actions.

For "Michael", a 16-year old currently residing in a youth care facility called Bahay Pag-Asa over drug charges, he believed that there was still a chance for him to be rehabilitated.

And this would be even more likely for children much younger than him.

"Kaya pa pong i-guide ng magulang ang 9 years old para makapagbago," opined Michael.

In the current law, Republic Act 10630 or the act that strengthened the Juvenile Justice System of the Philippines, a minor 15 years old or under would be exempt from criminal liability, and had to be immediately released back to the custody of the parents or the guardians.

However, the minor had to be placed in a community-based intervention program, unless the best interest of the child was to be placed under the supervision of a youth care facility such as Bahay Pag-asa.

For those 15 years old but below 18 years old, they too would be exempt from criminal liability and would be subject to an intervention program unless it could be proven that he/she was able to discern his/her actions.

If this is so, the child would go directly to the Bahay Pag-asa. There they would undergo a community-based intervention program supervised by the local DSWD officer

For children 12 to 15 years old who committed major crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery or rape, they would be placed in the intensive juvenile intervention and support center within the Bahay Pag-asa.

Lawmakers and concerned sectors were debating what a child's age of discernment needed to be, with a bill on the proposed lowering age of criminal liability discussed in the Senate. — Kaela Malig/DVM/BAP, GMA News