MANILA, Philippines – Tatanggalin ng isang panukalang batas ni Senador Robin Padilla ang criminal liability exemption ng kabataan na may edad 10 hanggang 17 na Nakagawa ng heinous crimes na mag-aamyenda sa umiiral na batas.
Sa unnumbered bill na inihain kamakailan, nakatakdang amyendahan ang Republic Act (RA) No. 9344 o ang Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, na tatanggalin ang criminal liability exemptions sa nagkasala na kabataan na may edad na 10 hanggang 17 taong gulang na nakagawa ng heinous crimes.
Nakatakda sa umiiral na batas na may minimum age na 15 taong gulang ang criminal responsibility.
Nakatakda sa amendments na sakaling nakagawa ng paglabag sa batas ang batang may edad 10 hanggang 18 pababa ay ilalagay sa Bahay Pag-asa o isang 24-hour child-caring institution, maliban lamang kung kinasuhan ng heinous crime.
Hindi exempted ang batang may edad 10 hanggang 18 pababa sa criminal liability na nakagawa ng heinous crimes.
Kabilang sa heinous crimes ang parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping, at serious illegal detention na pinatay o ginahasa ang biktima, robbery with homicide or rape, destructive arson, rape, carnapping where the driver or occupant is killed or raped, o paglabag sa Republic Act No. 9165, na kilala bilang Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, na may parusang hindi lalampas sa 12 taong pagkakakulong.
“Under the proposed measure, the provision that if it has been determined that the child taken into custody is 15 years old or below, he or she shall be subjected to a community-based intervention program supervised by the local social welfare and development officer, shall not apply if the offense is a heinous crime,” ayon sa panukala.
Giit pa ng panukala sa isang probisyon nito na nagsasabing: “It also replaces age 12 in the existing law with 15 to 18 years of age when it comes to repetition of offenses, and puts the word “non-heinous” before the word offense.
“When it comes to the automatic suspension of sentence, it will only apply if the child is under 18 years of age and if he or she commits a “non-heinous” offense,” ayon sa panukala.
Idinagdag pa ng panukala ang probisyon na nagsasabing: “This goes the same when it comes to the dismissal of the case of children 15 years old and below, which would only apply if it’s a “non-heinous” offense.”
“While we make it clear that our thrust is to ensure that youth offenders are dealt with through the lens of restorative and not punitive justice, we must guarantee the integrity of our justice system remains and that we do not condone a more precarious state of abuse towards our children,” ayon sa explanatory note ng panukala.
“The law remains unresponsive, if not completely remiss in exacting justice, from juvenile offenses to heinous crimes,” dagdag pa nito na tumutukoy sa umiiral na batas. Ernie Reyes
