A new proposal to return the age of criminal liability to nine years old instead of 15 from Sen. Francis Escudero may be a major step backwards in the campaign to protect the rights of children.聽 But聽 recent events in Cebu and across the country may challenge that viewpoint.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who authored the Juvenile Justice Law, said nothing had been done to support the campaign to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents and youths accused of crimes ranging from the petty to the heinous act of聽 murder.
Escudero was only one of several lawmakers who pushed to lower聽 the age of criminal liability to nine years old,聽 along with聽 Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu鈥檚 2nd district.
Police often lament that children are being used by adult crime syndicates聽 as runners for drug deals and as beggars to solicit alms from passersby.
The recent Naga City murders where a 16-year-old boy admitted stabbing dead his pregnant mother and 5-year-old half-sister provided ammunition for those聽 in acting tough on聽 young offenders.
In his case, social workers evaluated the teenager and found that despite his minor age, he acted 鈥渨ith discernment,鈥� and deserved to be tried in court as an adult.
The debate remains.聽 Would lowering the age of criminal liability result in a reduction of or outright elimination of crimes committed by youths? If one were to ask Pangilinan, the answer is a definite no.
His points are worth considering. Aside from a few cases, there is no hard scientific evidence supporting the theory that cracking down on juvenile delinquents will reduce or remove youth crimes.
The so-called 鈥渋ntervention鈥� provided in the law for youth suspects to be guided by social work agencies, and other positive influences is not happening.
There are no facilities or long-term programs designed for troubled kids, no funds to build reformatory schools. When minors are arrested, the police just hand them over to social workers, who are overworked and stretched to do some so many other duties.
The law鈥檚 intention was to save youth offenders from being hardened by the country鈥檚 criminal justice system, which already does聽 poor job rehabilitating adult hoodlums.
Amid the stringent provisions of the country鈥檚 Penal Code,聽 inmates are supposed to be given a chance at rehabilitation and eventual acceptance into mainstream society.
Pangilinan was correct in saying that the public should give the law a chance to work not only to save themselves from dealing with youth suspects but to save these same youths from leading a life of crime.
Only when everything has been done by the government to give these youth offenders a chance to redeem themselves and yet they still persist in wrongdoing should the law be revisited for review and amendment.