Sharing my interview with RT — Russian media — late last night (July 4) on the renewed debate over lowering the age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines. Let me be clear about my stand on this matter. Here’s my take to reinforce what I said in the interview: I am in favor of lowering the age of criminal responsibility for children to 14. Not 12, certainly not 9, and only for serious offenses and heinous crimes, with strict discernment, rehabilitation, victim justice, and no adult imprisonment, and still under a child-centered justice system.
14 years old is for me the best compromise: old enough to support a discernment-based accountability argument, but still young enough to keep proceedings under child justice.
If I am not mistaken, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has encouraged states to set the minimum age at at least 14, while also commending states with higher ages such as 15 or 16.
Children who commit grave, violent, or heinous offenses must face real legal accountability, but under a special child-justice system focused on rehabilitation, victim justice, public safety, and protection from adult exploitation and definitely not adult-style punishment.
In this regard, accountability should not be confused with cruelty, and compassion should not be mistaken for impunity. Children who commit grave offenses and heinous crimes need rehabilitation, yes — but victims, families, schools, and communities also deserve justice.
Current Philippine law under RA 9344 states that a child 15 years old or below is exempt from criminal liability but must undergo intervention; those above 15 but below 18 are also exempt unless they acted with discernment. The JJWC also stresses that the law already uses age, discernment, imposable penalty, diversion, rehabilitation, and victim participation in a restorative-justice framework.
Yes, the current law, Republic Act 9344, has accountability mechanisms, but they are insufficient for grave violence committed by minors who clearly understood the nature and consequence of their acts.
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14, as far as I am concerned, should not mean abandoning children to the cruelty of adult punishment. It should mean refusing to abandon victims, schools, communities, and even the offending child to a justice system that pretends grave violence is merely a childhood mistake. At 14, for serious crimes and with clear proof of discernment, accountability must begin, not as vengeance, but as justice with rehabilitation.
But the real challenge for the Philippines is to build a system that protects children without pretending that serious violence is just another “childhood mistake.”
Source: RT
