A lot of work needed on ‘criminal age’ issue

“Until now I have not killed anybody,’’ President Duterte tells delegates to the Philippine Orthopedic Association convention in Davao City on Thursday. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Malacañang said on Saturday that the government had to convince more Filipinos to support a plan backed by President Rodrigo Duterte to lower the age of criminal liability after a recent survey showed the majority opposing it.

The Pulse Asia Survey in March showed that 55 percent of Filipinos wanted to keep the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15 years, as set by the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.

The survey, which polled 1,200 respondents nationwide, also said 20 percent of Filipinos favored pegging the lowest age of criminal liability at 12 years and only 9 percent said it should be 9 years. It had an error margin of plus- or minus- 3 percent.

“What the survey shows is that there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in explaining to Filipinos the rationale behind lowering the minimum age of criminal liability,” said presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

The President wants the juvenile justice law amended, saying children aged 15 years and below who commit crimes are just released to their parents.

A bill in the House of Representatives dominated by pro-Duterte congressmen seeks to amend the law to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 9 years.

Critics of the law say children recruited by crime syndicates know that under the law they will not be kept in jail if they are caught.

“Lowering the age of criminal liability is part of the legislative agenda of President Duterte as a means to ensure that the Filipino youth would accept responsibility for their actions and be subjected to government intervention programs,” Abella said.

He said the proposed amendment would also protect children from being used as “front-line perpetrators of criminal acts.”

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are opposing the bill.

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo  said the move was antipoor and “[violated] the fundamental principles of social protection of children, as provided for by law  and by international treaties, and internationally accepted standards and principles.”

The current law offers ways to make children responsible without treating them as criminals, Taguiwalo said.

Instead of amending the law, the government should improve the facilities that are supposed to take care of children in conflict with the law, according to the CHR.

The Pulse Asia survey also showed a drop of 14 percentage points in the number of Filipinos who support the restoration of capital punishment, another plan by Mr. Duterte, from 81 percent in July 2016 to 67 percent in March.