The House of Representatives will defy Malacañang on the desire of President Rodrigo Duterte to lower the age of criminal liability from 15 to nine years old, a House official said on Monday.
Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, House committee on justice chairperson, said his panel may opt to may decide to “enhance” Republic Act 9344, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act instead.
“I do not want to preempt what the committee will say but maybe [I can reveal that] as early as now, I was briefed by my committee secretary that there are various options now being pursued," Umali said at a news briefing.
“One of which, and this is something very new, perhaps tomorrow [Tuesday] we’ll understand it more thoroughly, we’ll just enhance the existing law,” Umali added.
But Umali could not tell yet which particular provisions will be amended.
Umali said, however, that the House justice panel may not give in to the desire of President Duterte to lower the age of criminal liability from the current 15 to nine years old to stop crime syndicates from using children to evade the law.
“That is the possibility. But I do not want to preempt the decision of the committee,” said Umali, a former key ally of the Aquino administration.
Duterte has blamed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act and its author Senator Francis Pangilinan for producing “generations of criminals.”
RA 9344 raises the minimum age of crimimal responsibility from 9 to 15 years old.
The President said the current law has allowed children, regardless of the gravity of the offense, to go scot-free and be released on the same dau they were arrested.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez last year filed House Bill 2 that reverts back to nine the age of criminal liability, as the current law was “pampering youth offenders who.commit crimes knowing they can get away with it,” Alvarez said.