So young yet so well on their way to ending up on the wrong side of the law.
Two groups composed of young people between the ages of 10 and 17 robbed a Korean man and the owner of a computer shop in separate incidents in Manila.
At 8:20 p.m. on Monday, Oh Young Jae, a tourist from South Korea, was walking in the Baywalk area on Roxas Boulevard when at least 20 children aged 10 to 12 swarmed around him and asked him for money.
Superintendent Ernesto Tendero, Manila Police District (MPD) Station 9 commander, told the Inquirer that the victim later complained that he lost his iPhone valued at around P35,000.
Shortly after midnight Tuesday, another group composed of boys aged between 13 and 15 years—one of whom was armed with a gun—robbed an Internet cafe at the corner of Singalong and Zapanta Streets.
According to Tendero, the teenagers took a cell phone worth P15,000 and P800 in cash from Maritess Juan, the owner of AJ Computer shop.
He said that three of the robbers had been identified.
“The teenagers were initially seen [outside] the computer shop so several of them were identified. When [it started raining heavily], they came inside the computer shop and pulled the heist. What is alarming is their possession of a gun,” Tendero told the Inquirer.
At the same time, he expressed dismay over the fact that should any of the youngsters in the two robberies be arrested, they would only be turned over to the custody of the local social welfare department as provided for under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.
Under the law, children under the age of 15 cannot be held liable for any crime they commit. Instead of putting them behind bars, they are to be subjected to a juvenile intervention program, which includes counseling, skills training and education.
“We have been rounding up street children in the Malate area and turning them over to the Manila social welfare department but they only return to the streets after a few days,” Tendero said.