THE lowering of the minimum age for criminal liability to age 12 from 15 is among the amendments presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Alan Peter Cayetano said they will push in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.
They said the provision on the age of criminal liability was being exploited by crime and drug syndicates who use children for illegal activities.
They said moral autonomy usually developed as early as age 10.
For repeat offenders, they said, a new provision should be inserted so that those more than 15 years old but below 18 who were subjected to a diversion program and were not first-time violator should be treated as adult offenders.
“There’s too much chaos so that there’s too much suffering of our people,” Duterte said.
“In many cases, drug traffickers use minors as couriers, a modus operandi made rather convenient by the law. Oftentimes, these guys just go scot-free and grow up with no sense of accountability.
“It’s time to bring back order and keep our kids off the streets as we wage an all-out war against organized crime.”
But Cayetano said minors should be placed in separate detention facilities and given the same rehabilitation to ensure their normal growth.
He said tough anti-crime measures must go hand in hand with restorative justice when it came to children in conflict with the law.
Duterte and Cayetano said they were also studying the possibility of increasing the punishment for adults trying to exploit minors and using them in criminal activities.
“Our goal in pushing for these amendments is to end the disorder in the streets,” Cayetano said. “Through this, we reduce the number of crimes committed by minors and protect them from notorious criminals and syndicates who take advantage of their vulnerabilities.”