The local chapter of Gabriela in Caloocan city on Saturday expressed opposition on House Bill 2 or the lowering of criminal liability age from its current 15 years old to 9 years old.
“Pagpapakita ito ng buktot na pagsusuri sa kriminalidad at hindi makataong pagtingin sa mga naghihirap na mga kabataang nasasangkot sa kriminal na aktibidad,” Gabriela Caloocan City Chapter spokesperson Mary Jane Magbanua said in a statement.
“Ibig sabihin ay hahayaan nating makulong ang mga ka-edad nila Ryza Mae, Baste, at Aura, na ituring kapareho ng mga sindikato at pusakal na kriminal. Ilalayo natin lalo ang mga bata sa kanilang pamilya, komunidad at sa edukasyon–paano nagiging makakabuti sa mga bata ang ganoon?” she added, referring to young television personalities who would fall under the age of criminal liability according to the bill.
(This shows the crooked way through which criminality is analyzed and the inhumane perception toward youth involved in crime.
This means that we will allow those as young as Ryza Mae, Baste and Aura to go to jail, since they are considered similar to syndicates and inveterate criminals. We will take them away from their families, from the community and their education–how would that be beneficial to the youth?)
The chapter described the policy of reducing the age of criminal liability, which was the second house bill filed in the 17th Congress under the new administration “heartless,” and asserted that it is the poverty that pushes the children to criminality.
READ: Alvarez files bill lowering age of criminal liability
The militant women’s party-list group also expressed support and vowed to lobby for the passage of Caloocan City council Karina Teh’s resolution in opposition to the said house bill at the Sangguniang Panglunsod.
Teh, who also chairs the Committee on Women and Family in the Sangguniang Panglunsod of Caloocan, filed a resolution in opposition to the bill, citing the Philippine Constitution and the country’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 (UNCRC) as basis.
Gabriela urged the government to focus its efforts in addressing the root causes of poverty to reduce crimes in communities.
“Mas pag-isipan ng gobyerno kung paano bawasan ang kahirapan at kagutuman. Kung tutugunan nila iyun mas tiyak na mababawasan ang kriminalidad,” Magbanua said.
(The government must focus more on addressing poverty and hunger. If they address these, then, for sure, criminality will decline.) CDG