Sotto misdirected on criminalizing children — rights group
MANILA, Philippines — The proposal of Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto to reform the minimum age of criminal liability in the country would do nothing to address why children become involved in crime, a children's rights group said.
The Child Rights International Network (CRIN) expressed strong opposition against the senator's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years old.
"The suggestion made by Mr. Sotto that this reform will protect children forced to commit crimes by adults is misdirected and ignores the obvious solution, namely the criminalisation of those who exploit children and enforcement of these provisions against adults who involve children in criminality," the group said.
The reform would only draw more children into the criminal justice system instead of addressing the issue, the CRIN added.
"Allowing younger children to be held criminally responsible ignores evidence of what effectively reduces crime among children: diverting them from the criminal justice system, avoiding detention and focusing on measures such as restorative justice," it said.
The group urged the Senate to reject the "regressive" measure that would not reduce crime committed by children.
Earlier this week, Sotto filed Senate Resolution 2026 which amends several setions of Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
In his explanatory note, Sotto cited a CRIN study which found that the average minimum age of criminal responibility was 11 years old in Asian and African regions; while it is 13 years old for American and European regions.
The Senate leader said his proposal was consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte's goal to curb criminality in the Philippines.
"The State must ensure that those children in conflict with the law who are currently exempted from criminal liability who take advantage of the same must not be given the same privilege," Sotto said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
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