Padilla: Kids, 10, can be liable

As crimes committed by minors continue to rise, Senator Robin Padilla is pushing for lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 for children involved in heinous crimes. He argued that sending them to the government’s Bahay Pag-asa for rehabilitation has not been effective.

Padilla, who admitted to committing a crime at the age of 10, said it was high time to revisit and rethink Republic Act 9344, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, to better address the issue.

“I am deeply disturbed by the behavior of minors in recent times. I am referring to the involvement of children in illegal activities ranging from what are considered petty crimes on the streets to heinous crimes,” Padilla said in Filipino in a privilege speech on Wednesday.

Padilla cited a case of rape in San Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte, last year where one of the perpetrators was a minor.

“My heart was pounded by the story of the victim’s parents who said that after filming the rape, the group of young men killed their daughter. Their shamelessness towards their victim did not end there. One of the suspects who was a butcher cut her up like a piece of meat and ate her internal organs,” he said.

He also questioned the closure of Boys Town, which took care of juvenile delinquents. Currently, minors who run afoul of the law are held at Bahay Pag-Asa.

“There are people with a criminal mindset. I speak from my own experience. If I hadn’t been jailed and been only sent for counseling, I probably would still be a criminal today and wouldn’t have become a senator. Going through the stink and tightness of prison changed me. When someone experiences that, there’s no other choice but to change,” Padilla said.

He said nowadays some young people already have criminal minds.

“We can also perhaps rely on studies that say failing to address criminal behavior in children can result in repeat offenses and, even more dangerously, a desire to commit more serious law violations. As they learn they are not accountable to the law, they may think their actions have no real consequences,” he said.

Padilla said that in a 2019 report of the Philippine National Police, more than 12,000 minors were involved in heinous crimes since 2016, with rape and illegal drugs topping the cases.