For years there have been talks about the age of criminal responsibility.

Experts have debated

whether the government should lower it or keep it as is. This is due to the fact that teenage offenders
have been on the rise in the past few years. Finally, on the 28 th of January, 2019, legislators approved
House Bill 8858 which indicates that the minimum age of responsibility was lowered from 15 to 12.

The lowering of the minimum age sparked outrage among experts and human rights activists,
saying that it is highly unnecessary to do such thing, also stating that it is an act of violence against
children. It is very much an act of violence against children because in allowing this bill to pass, children
from poverty can be brainwashed and weaponized by syndicates into doing their dirty deeds and if ever
these children are caught, these syndicates will just let them rot in jail. This is also oppression to
children because it restricts them from living like a normal child, it feels like one wrong deed can derail
their whole life, especially children from poverty.

It is also against scientific methods because according to scientific studies, brain function
reaches maturity only at around 16 years old, affecting children’s reasoning and impulse control.
Proposals to lower the age of criminal responsibility argue that children as young as 9 years old are
criminally mature and are already capable of discernment. Children at the new minimum age of
responsible cannot possibly determine which is right and which is wrong when presented by
manipulative factors by criminals.

The current proposal is to delay sentence up to a maximum age of 25 years. If a child is jailed at
9 years old it means that they may have to waste away their life for 17 years under imprisonment until
they can get a sentence for the crime committed. There is no mechanism to protect these children from
cohabiting with hardened criminals and no guarantee that in detention they will be protected from
violence and exploitation in jail.

Overall, this move by the government is not only unnecessary but a very bad move in terms of
child welfare development. Branding children as criminals removes accountability from adults who are
responsible for safeguarding them. If children who have been exploited by criminal syndicates are
penalized instead of the adults who abused them, we fail to uphold the rights and well-being of children.
Sources

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/lowering-age-criminal-responsibility-against-child-
rights-unicef

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/221818-highlights-house-bill-lowering-minimum-age-criminal-
responsibility

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2006/04/28/republic-act-no-9344-s-2006/