By Sheine Nicole C. Lim | January 25, 2019
MANILA, PH--- Recently, another ill-advised issue has mounted and sparked a lot of debates from all citizens of our changed country as it puts the “bella esperanza de la patria mia" in yet another derogatory stance. Just this Monday, January 21st, the House of Representatives, has approved a second reading of the House Bill No. 505 filed by Tarlac 2nd District Rep. Victor Yap proposing to lower the age of criminal liability to 9 years old from the current 15 years old but two days after the news breach about the bill, the age of criminal liability was amended to 12 years old and the term “criminal” was deleted from the proposal and was changed to “social” according to House Justice Committee chairman Rep. Doy Leachon. In the proposal, the house bill seeks to punish the juvenile delinquents who would be proven guilty of crimes such as parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, robbery with homicide or rape, and carnapping, where a victim is killed or raped, among the specific crimes that a “child with discernment” could be convicted for. It is also said that just last year, the bill was filed by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto who was involved in a rape case, along with his brother and co-comedian, that just never went to trial because of their fame as comedians----having power is having access to resources only available to the privileged.
I am one with the various child rights organizations, groups, foundations and citizens of this country that condemn the approval of this condescending house bill, as it targets first, the poor; second, the women and now, our children, our youth. I say enough is enough. Are we to befall silent amidst these threats to the fair hope of our country? Are we to play blind, deaf and dumb in these tough times when those who need our help are to be murdered? silenced? abused? and oppressed? Will we let them suffer because of these people with corrupted mindsets? We are already suffering by the president’s perverse actions and undertakings and his administration’s lack of humanity and brain cells, and here we are yet again, in another offensive and anti-poor move.
Also, it’s an outraging scandal that the Philippines is once again, facing and what is more outraging is that only 1 out of 10 vetoed against this house bill and ironically, the 2 out of 9 votes came from the two politicians namely Imelda Marcos and Juan Ponce Enrile who are both guilty of crimes but were not convicted because of their “weak state and frail age”, and they still remain at large. Egregiously and not so surprisingly, a young and gullible outlaw’s claws are seen and appraised as far more treacherous and lethal than an old and feeble serial malefactor’s in the eyes of our supposedly “defenders” of justice and the truth.
This bill will not be the solution to stop crimes involving “kids”, it will only worsen the situation as it will deprive these kids a chance to correct their wrongs and it will not lessen the crime rates perpetrated by kids as the real underlying problem here points the fingers to the supposedly matured “adults” who constantly threatens, manipulates, forces and abuses these kids to do something illegal for their own gains. It saddens me to think that these “adults” who claim that they have 180 and above IQs and that they can change the world by eradicating the innocent and the vulnerable do not see the very root of why there are kids who break the law. Furthermore, if this bill would be approved and passed as a law, it will only increase the disparity between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the non-privileged.
Have you heard of any news regarding a kid with a rich family being used by drug syndicates against their will to deliver and do drugs? Or any rich people’s children being sentenced to life imprisonment or serving jail time for a horrendous crime that they have committed? Because I have never, in my life, heard of such news and this realization has made me see how the rich can simply get away with just about anything if they want to.
Is it impossible to see that these children who put themselves in danger are the victims? And that these victims- these children are from poor families and lineage? And that even though it is against their will, they have no choice but to obey because they are constantly being threatened and abused if they did not comply and even though they are under the threat of no one, they will do everything even up to the point of breaking the law to have foods in their stomach and provide for their families in distress? Hunger further leads to desperation that can actually end up forcing you to do what is unlawful because you don’t have any options to choose from, you are poor and that’s the end of the line because our government deprives them of their rights; first, they take away their right to education, second, their right to get life opportunities and benefits and lastly, their right to step out of poverty and achieve their full potential.
The lowering of the age of the crime liability is never about helping alleviate the stresses of the poor or the oppressed, nor decreasing crime rates, because it is always and will always be about improving and giving multiple advantages to the rich. Let us not support the government’s campaign to criminalize children, most especially children from below the poverty line of our society because if you zoom in your sociological lens, you will see that this is a move to further marginalize the poor and somehow, eradicate them. Rich children a.k.a. heirs and heiresses of big companies and corporations will never be put behind bars and will never have to face court trials because they are rich but the poor, they will always be the one to suffer and pay for the rich people’s crimes.
There are people who store away other people’s rights in a collection of bell jars to keep them from being fairly distributed to the public, I think it’s time to break those bell jars into tiny pieces so these rights can go where they should be and whom they rightly belong to.
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