RA 9344 only provides different process for child offenders

This is to clarify issues that Ramon Tulfo raised in his column titled “Live and let live policy, if Binay is elected” (Metro, 1/28/16) and in Aries Joseph Hegina’s Inquirer.net article (2/12/16) titled “Duterte, Cayetano want minimum age of criminal liability lowered to 12.”

Tulfo wrote that the last time Francis Pangilinan was in the Senate, he passed that “stupid law exempting from any criminal liability youthful offenders, aged 15 and below, no matter how serious the crime.”

To correct Tulfo, a law is never an act of one senator. It is the act of the entire country represented by its officials. It requires the approval of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the signature of the Philippine president. It is a collective, democratic agreement of officials representing the Filipino people; that is why it is called a “Republic Act.”

Enacting a law is a long and difficult process. Before its passage, it goes through many hurdles to ensure that it is not passed on a whim and is instead well-considered and deliberated.

Republic Act No. 9344 took 13 years to pass. This was legislated to fulfill  (1) its constitutional obligation to protect children (especially the poor Filipino children who have less in life and whose infractions are mostly theft; clearly they commit crimes as a desperate measure to survive), and (2) the nation’s commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We would like to emphasize: The law does not allow children who are 15 years old and below and who commit crimes to go “scot-free.” What the law provides is a different process for them to be made accountable. They are not “released” simply because they cannot be criminally charged; they can be “institutionalized,” a form of deprivation of liberty, for a more focused intervention and reformation.

RA 9344 is not only for the benefit of children. The safety of society is its foremost interest. That is why it prioritizes rehabilitation and not imprisonment.

Thus, if we want to protect children from drug trafficking, for instance, we should prioritize the crackdown on drug syndicates.

Children in conflict with the law are victims of circumstances beyond their control. Dysfunctional families, lack of discipline by responsible persons and society’s myriad of decisions that perpetuate poverty can push them to bad behavior. We are actually the ones who set them up to fail. But instead of helping them, we punish them for how they have become?

Experience has shown that the formal criminal justice system can be harmful to children and likely lead them deeper into criminality. Instead of putting these children in jail together with hardened criminals, thus jeopardizing their physical and psychological well-being and development, we should provide them the proper intervention and facilities for their rehabilitation. RA 9344 was enacted precisely for this purpose.

If we really want to prevent children from getting into crime, RA 9344 should be fully and properly implemented. This milestone law has been nominated for the 2015 World Future Policy Awards which recognize best laws and policies in the world, which secure child rights.

—TRICIA CLARE A. OCO, executive director, Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council