Motion: “The Age of Criminal Liability in the Philippines must be lowered to 12 years old”

AFFIRMATIVE: YES, I AGREE THAT IT SHOULD BE LOWERED FROM 15 TO 12

INTRO: When was the last time you walked alone at night without getting scared or paranoid of
a criminal lurking, just waiting to prey on you? When was the last time you had to zip your
jackets up, put your bags infront or even make sure your doors in the car were locked, and
basically, just toughen up, because you feared of the menace that could happen but with all the
criminals in our country, both young and the old?
This measure, of lowering the age of criminal liability in the Philippines to 12 years old, is a
measure that I am sure both you and I are going to benefit from, and no it does not pass the
burn of our society’s failure to our children, it’s a step, a steep one too, towards a country full
of growth and progress, that I think we have been greatly deficient of.

*This measure is not very much of a punitive justice aimed to hold children the victims of our
country, IT IS PROGRESS, IT IS THE TRUTH, that I’m afraid the Philippines wont be able to ride
onto if we keep on treating our country as if we were in the 1930’s. We are slowly condemning
the much needed improvement that the nation deserves, and putting a halt on all instruments
that could, even so infinitesimally, make the Philippines great again.
Just so you know how regressed we are even in the slightest details like this age of criminal
responsibility, Canda, The United Kingdom, Iceland, Finland and many more have lowered their
age of minimum criminal liability to 12 years old. And these are countries with one of the
lowest crime rates in the world, not afraid of a little sting from the law, because they believe
these are merely guidelines that should variably act more advantageous if followed. And if that
does not convince you because of distance and the difference of lifestyle between the Filipinos
and those from those countries, then let me mention Singapore, a nation just south of the
Philippines whose crime rate is one of the highest in the world at 21.28%, and can you guess
what the age for criminal liability is in there? IT’S, SURPRISE, SURPRISE, 12.

*You see, the Psychological Association of the Philippines, has even confirmed the fact that
children ages 12 would be an age that the individual would be capable of discerning what is
right and what is wrong, what is immoral and what is not. And even them, the 12 year olds, Im
sure, would be able to distinguish whethere he or she must steal, must rape, or must kill. He
would certainly do, and if does so? Then I guess he or she would also be capable of
comprehending that criminalizing him because of his atrocious acts would certainly lead to
some kind of responsibility. He shall not go away thinking that there won’t be consequences
that come with his inaction. Or maybe, set simply to those who impose, since they believe
individuals at 12 are merely innocent victims, the orphans of justice, here’s the motion in
children’s words “Anak, kung papatay ka, lagot ka kay Inang Bayan”

*Lastly, if you still aren’t convinced of how perfectly safe it is to lower the age of criminal
liability, then believe from the words of the United Nations in its Convention on the Rights of
Child stating that the recommended minimum age is in fact 12 years old, where the child is fully
capable of determining if his actions has infringed the law as the Committee recommends that
State parties should conduct regular evaluations of their practice of juvenile justice, and it
believes that having 2 minimum ages of criminal liability, like ours before which is 15 til 18,
would only be too ambiguous and hard to implement.
See, even the United Nations on its committee for children believes there is nothing wrong with
criminilazing 12 year olds if found to have been neglectful of the law which govern our country.
Additionally, so called children in conflict with the law are not going to incarcerated and directly
go into jail, you know. Pick up a criminal book, and maybe have a little insight about the laws of
the country, there is a juvenile justice law called that jjwa of 2006 that makes sure that the
children are reformed and not in the most grusesome way the opposition has so extremely
tried to pricture. It’s a child who, let’s say, roams ortigas and smashes cars’ windows for fun,
Gives inconvenience to hundreds of passers-by, finally gets caught, goes through a proceeding,
goes to a convention for reformation, and goes back into society a more-cautious, and
astonishingly, more productive citizen contributing to a better world.

So if the problem is enacting the notoriety of apprehending children who have trashed your
windshield, spat at your shoe, stolen your wallets your keys your phones, children who have
been in conflict In law then I say take a pill of reality and recognize the dangers of the
opposition. The former system has not done any good help for all of us, and here is our
government in their best efforts, trying to tell us that “no. we do not know the guarantees of
making the system work” but neither do you, but at least we are trying to get the problem and
putting some kind of plan into action. It’s all a matter of trial and error, of taking a chance on
maybe giving our beloved country and its citizens a little bit of hope. So stop with the
exaggeration that screams stupidity and privilege, this is the call of the times, and I believe that
we should all be responsible enough to discern that, aren’t we? We’re all beyond 12 years old?
OPPOSITION: NO, I DO NOT WANT THE CRIMINAL AGE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO BE LOWERED TO
12 YEARS OLD

Intro: Has any of you ever visited a prison in the Philippines? Well, let me paint a picture for
you, in Quezon City jai, there are about 800 inmates, a small, broken electric fan, unsavory food
is served at lunch, the odor is so strong it would make you want to barf, the floors so dirty yet
where else can they sleep, it is, after all, too crowded, and the system, boy it’s really tough and
frightening, cliché as it sounds. Imagine your 12 year old, your poor grade schooler, spending a
fraction of his young life there. Now what kind of monster would even think that it is a thought
worth being justified? Who would even think that the measure of criminalizing children would
be okay?

*The country, in its deepest interests to give punitive justice instead oof restorative and
corrective ones are, once again, victimizing its own citizens, and now, even its children.
Children should not be locked up in a facility that may increase a person’s relapse to antisocial
or criminal behavior, he should be out there, being reformed, being shaped into a being that
will be beneficial and productive in the community. Incarcerating them would only be proving
once and for all that the Philippines is in no way capable of understang its own people, further
victimizing the children of the circumastances they are in no capacity to understand.