OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE LIPA ARCHDIOCESAN SOCIAL ACTION
COMMISSION, INC. (LASAC) ON HOUSE BILL NO. 0002, SEEKING
TO LOWER THE MINIMUM AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
FROM FIFTEEN (15) YEARS OLD TO NINE (9) YEARS OLD.
21st JANUARY 2019
LAFORCE Building, Marawoy, Lipa City
The Lipa Archdiocesan Social Action Commission, Inc. declares its strong
disapproval and opposition to the House Committee on Justice’s approval of House Bill
No. 505, which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act
(JJWA) of 2006, as Amended by Republic Act No. 10630, lowering the Minimum Age of
Criminal Responsibility (MACR) from fifteen (15) years old to nine (9) years old.
The problem of children committing crimes, and criminality in general, will not be
solved by putting children in jails.
It is never a solution. The move to lower the Minimum Age of Criminal
Responsibility from 15 years old to 9 years old is deemed to be a hasty reaction to the
public’s sentiment and perception that RA 9344 only increases the incidence of crimes
committed by children, a perception which up to this day remains to be baseless and
unsubstantiated.
Sounder solutions necessitate gaining an accurate picture and understanding of
the reasons and context why children offend, and reasons include poor parenting, family
conflicts, peer pressure and poverty, among others. Instead of going after the children, it
should be the adults who must seriously be held accountable for the crimes and more so,
for using and taking advantage of the children, who are clearly the victims in such
circumstances.
Standards for criminal responsibility for adults should not be the same for children.
Studies have provided evidence to this claim based on the emerging knowledge
about the cognitive, psychosocial and neurobiological development in adolescence.
Brain underdevelopment and socio-emotional changes among adolescents and children
influence their decision-making and susceptibility to perform risky activities.
Added to this are personal and environmental circumstances that increase the
potential of children to commit crime (i.e., experiencing parental neglect, lacking in
education, residence in communities where crimes are rampant, poverty, etc.).
The best interest for children should be promoted and strengthened, both for the
children and the public’s welfare.
The present measure will result to negative consequences for children and the
public. It will only ensure incarceration of our children, but will not guarantee their
rehabilitation and development. Incarcerating children obviously contradicts the best
interest of the child, taking away the child’s rights to maximum survival, development
and protection. The harsh conditions in already congested jail and penal facilities should
never be experienced by a child.
Detention may also increase the likelihood that young people will recidivate.
Worse, their exposure to adult criminals serving sentence for murder, robbery, kidnap,
illegal drugs, and other crimes, may contribute to making children more likely to become
hardened offenders, compromising public safety. Instead of preventing criminality,
House Bill No. 002 may just end up increasing opportunities for it to thrive, at the
expense of children.
Crafting and enhancement of RA 9344 took more than a decade of intensive
studies, discussions and a lot of other initiatives all for the end purpose of protecting
children. To this day, it has not been fully and effectively implemented. For one, its key
provision on the establishment of Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Centers
(“Bahay Pag-Asa”) in provinces and highly urbanized cities has not been fully
implemented. This and other challenges in the implementation of the law should be
addressed more at this time.
Any attempt to amend Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act
(JJWA) of 2006, as Amended by Republic Act No. 10630, should be carefully studied and
must be consistent with the Philippine’s commitments to international agreements such
as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), the United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing
Rules), and the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh
Guidelines).
Our legislators must uphold what is provided for in the Constitution, and that is
to recognize the vital role of the youth in nation-building and promote and protect their
physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. House Bill No. 002 is a clear
contradiction to this.
NO to the lowering of Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR)!
