Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 25) — Senate Justice Committee Chairperson Richard Gordon on Friday expressed dismay over the lack of charges against parents and other adults for their involvement in children’s criminal offenses.
Gordon noted during the Senate hearings on bills seeking to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility that there are measures that penalize parents in Presidential Decree 603, or the Child and Youth Welfare Code.
Under the code, parents are criminally liable if he or she “causes or encourages the child to lead an immoral or dissolute life,” “permits the child to possess, handle or carry a deadly weapon, regardless of its ownership,” or “improperly exploits the child by using him, directly or indirectly, such as for purposes of begging and other acts which are inimical to his interest and welfare,” among others.
“All these are in the law, and yet when I asked judges the other day, five of them from the RTCs (Regional Trial Courts) and family courts, nobody has been prosecuted at least from their parents,” he said.
Gordon said laws are already in place, but there is a lack of implementation.
“We tend to focus on the criminal liability of the child. That’s all well and good, We should also focus on the reality that the state promises a lot,” Gordon said.
Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, author of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, said a factor in the lack of law enforcement is coddling of children from corrupt local officials and policemen.
“Maglalakas ng loob ba ang 13, 12 years old kung wala siyang backer na corrupt na pulis, corrupt na tanod, corrupt na (Metro Manila Development Authority) official diyan sa may EDSA, na pagka sila ay hinuli, titimbrehan lang at pakakawalan din?” Pangilinan said.
[Translation: Will a child be bold enough if he didn’t have a backer like a corrupt policeman, village or MMDA official that they will contact when they are apprehended for them to be released again.)
Gordon asked the Philippine National Police to submit names of adults charged found involving children in crimes.
The PNP added that as of now, they have no intelligence of policemen being involved in children’s crimes.
The hearings on the bills come after the House of Representatives approved on second reading a bill seeking to lower the minimum age of so-called “social responsibility” from 15 to 12.
