Senate President Vicente C. Sotto's co-sponsorship speech on lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility

Honorable colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen:

There has been a lot of misinformation designed to mislead the public in order to tend toward the retention of the present 15 years of age and prevent the adoption of the 12 years old threshold as the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. Sinisiraan ang mga pabor sa amendment ng mga salitang -- "Grabe naman sila, 12 anyos pa lang ikukulong na nila. Sobra naman sila, isasama ang mga 12 years old sa mga harderned criminals sa kulungan." Etc, etc.

Lowering the threshold to 12 years of age simply means that the government and the state can intervene in conflict situations involving its young citizens with the end in view of providing them guidance and a chance at reformation.

Before I proceed with my co-sponsorship speech, kindly bring your attention to the screen for a short video presentation. (video presentation)

Truly, it is not uncommon to see in social media various photos, videos, or accounts, which describe incidents involving children. In addition to what has been earlier presented are the following recent headlines involving children committing crimes: a child bullying another child, two incidents of which has resulted in the victim's unfortunate death; of a group of street children ransacking a passenger jeepney somewhere in front of Luneta and forcibly stealing a humble driver's earnings in day's toil; the number of reported and unreported cases which involve youth pickpockets in the streets of Quiapo; or the many cases of knife fights among teenage gangs whose memberships range from the younger 11s to 12s to the older 16s to 17s whom the younger ones idolize; or the children traversing dangerous highways and polluted roads to sell sampaguita or, more horribly, to beg for alms for vicious syndicates who kidnap children just for this ungodly purpose; of children being used as couriers by criminals in the conduct of their illicit activities, or of child soldiers being recruited by terrorist organizations to fight in their behalf. How often are these stories seen of and heard by us that we seemingly have already taken this sad reality for granted?

It had been 74 years as the norm in this country for the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility to be at 9 years old, when acting with discernment. 1932 pa epektibo ang Revised Penal Code na nagsaad na ang below (9) years old lamang ang exempt from criminal responsibility. Itong batas na ito ay nakapaloob sa Revised Penal Code na umiral pa nuong 1932. Ladies and Gentlemen. 1932. Panahon pa yan ng mga dakilang statesmen-legislators tulad nina Presidents Quezon and Osmena. Wala pang malalaswang pelikula nuon. Walang television. Walang internet. May pag-galang ang mga kabataan sa mga nakakatanda. And yet the legislature, at that time, had seen it fit to set 9 as the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility, when acting with discernment.

Di naman tayo bumabalik sa 9 anyos. Ang panukala ay ibaba sa 12 anyos ang ngayon ay nakatakdang 15 anyos na Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility?

Naaalala pa ba ninyo yung nag viral na video ng nam-bully ng kaeskuela at ikinagalit ng sambayanan? Walang puedeng ikaso pala sa batang nambugbog. Ni hindi naimbestigahan. Katorse anyos lang daw and edad. Musmos pa daw. Ayon sa kasalukuyang batas "infant". Duguan ang mukha at nguso ng kanyang ginulpi. Nguni't wala tayong magagawa. Siya ay parang 3 years old na nanghampas ng kalaro sa kanilang bakuran. Ang sabi ng paring pangulo ng kanyang unibersidad, ang mga bata daw ay dapat nasa loob ng eskuelahan. Pero, inexpel nila ang nam-bully. Ano talaga ang tamang gawin at pananaw sa mga ganitong mga pangyayari.

Napapansin ba ninyo ang mga kabataan sa gitna ng mga pangunahing kalsada na nag titinda, namamalimos, at naglalaro sa gitna ng panganib? Mga 13 anyos na babaeng may kargang 5 buwan na sanggol sa init ng araw at patak ng ulan para sa konting barya ng motorista. Ilan ang na a aksidente sa ganyang mga kalakaran. Wala tayong magawa. Mga bata pa sila. Mga musmos. Mga infant. Sa mata ng batas R.A. 9344.

Nakikita ba ninyo ang mga kabataang below 15 years old na may hawak na mga baril na sumasapi sa mga sindikato at mga gusting magpababsak ng gobyerno sa kabundukan? Mahuli man sila, makamatay man sila, ay walang magagawa. Sapagkat batang bata sila. Musmos. Infants in the eyes of R.A. 9344.

Some would say that the proposed measure is anti-poor since most of the children in conflict with the law and the children at risk come from families that "have no meaningful access to legal services". To this I say: Actually this proposal is PRO-POOR. Since children in poor families does not have access to quality education and are being exposed to violence in their own family and communities, the Government, through the principle of parens patriae, is stepping in to provide these children with education and training. Their parents failed to attend to the needs of their children and the Government, with the proper implementation of the law, will be able to rehabilitate and provide better future for these children as responsible members of the society upon their reintegration.

We need to snatch our young with FORCE from the snare of the criminal syndicates. We need to seize them from entrapment in the dens of felony and transgression. We need to grab them from the arms of lawlessness and delinquency.

Only if we are able to RECLAIM, SEIZE and GRAB them now from the paws of gangs and syndicates can we ever hope to rehabilitate our young offenders and prevent them from falling into the abyss of crime.

Only if we are able to RECLAIM, SEIZE and GRAB them now from the ravine of criminality can we ever hope to make them rise again and have the future they deserve.

Only if we are able to RECLAIM, SEIZE and GRAB them now from evil itself can we ever hope to breathe life again into their veins and give them a chance to fulfill their childhood dreams.

It is for these reasons we need to act now and lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to above 12 years old.

Maraming salamat at mabuhay ang kabataang Pilipino!

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