Rehabilitation first

Would lowering the age of criminal liability among youths result in better molded adults as far as the Juvenile Justice Law is concerned?

That is the heart of debates over  Senate Bill 3324 and House Bill No. 6052.  The two bills will  will be reconciled by a congressional bicameral conference committee before Congress goes on recess for this year’s midterm elections.

HB 6052 seeks to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old while SB 3324 wants to keep it at 15 years of age.

Both measures seek stronger intervention programs to rehabilitate youth offenders. SB 3324 places  civil liability  on minors in conflict with the law.

The catch is that the liabilities will be borne by their parents, who are held responsible for their offspring’s conduct.

Two examples may illustrate whether there is any wisdom behind that amendment.

The family of Wilson Reyes was reported to be suing the New York City government for US $250 million after he was handcuffed for 10 hours following a police interrogation over a lunch money scuffle that he figured in.

While that may sound like an outrageous sum, can anyone really appreciate the trauma that the child, a 7-year-old, experienced being handcuffed in  a cafeteria for 10 hours with no one to turn to?  It’s hard to believe police would handle a child as if he was an armed and dangerous criminal.

The second incident occurred in Cebu City last year, when a 9              -year-old boy was implicated in the shooting of another boy in an  Internet cafe.  Police investigation showed that the child got hold of his  father’s pistol and fired it for fun, not realizing that the weapon was loaded.

Both children, not just the victim, were traumatized by the shooting and the parents were mandated to pay the hospital expenses.

The father disappeared.  The boy shooter was too young to be held criminally liable for the tragic prank.

Among the proponents for lowering the age of criminal liability was Deputy House Speaker Pablo Garcia who  spoke at length about how minors have largely escaped responsibility for their actions, especially those with a history of violence and mental instability.

But we hold that children who go astray don’t become troublemakers on their own.  An adult’s influence is the story behind their own fall in society. The  government should continue to strengthen  intervention programs rather than pursue punitive action against  minor offenders.

Rehabilitation rather than incarceration, reform rather than punishment should be prioritized if Philippine society seeks to build a safer, better world for children to live in.