Law on juvenile offenders up for review

Cainta, Rizal municipal administrator Keith Nieto has urged Congress to review and amend the law exempting minors from criminal liability.

Nieto, said it has been a "big headache" for the local government to discipline juvenile offenders, minors who cause trouble, and those committing offenses.

"I will approach our Congress people in Rizal. Maybe they can review or amend this law because it's really hard to handle theft and crime issues when the situation is always like this," Nieto said.

The returning mayor was referring to a series of thefts in his town involving minors who go unpunished due to their age.

"They are protected by law but are a great nuisance to most people. They are also used by some syndicates," Nieto said.

For instance, the streetlight along Ortigas Avenue near BF Metal was not functioning because the electric wires were allegedly stolen by minors, Nieto said.

"This has been done several times. And then we just caught the thieves, all minors. We cannot jail them. Instead, we will bring them to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. After a few days, they will be released, and then commits such offense repeatedly. We are not finished here," he said.

"Anyway, I just assigned a new team at Ortigas Avenue every night to keep an eye on our facilities and prevent cable theft from happening again," the returning mayor added.