Juvenile Crime, Who is to Blame?

By
Melford G. Maderazo

RATIONALE​:

The Congress has recently passed a bill that lowers the criminal liability, from 15 to 12
years old, of juveniles who commit serious crimes. This has been one of the bills wherein many
Filipinos oppose its enactment mainly because they believe that children below 15 years old
should also be spared from trial and jail. Also, according to the Philippine Pediatric Society, it
violates the rights of the children and that there's no scientific evidence that 12-14 years old
children are capable of acceptance of crime conviction and sentence to jail.
Based on Esquire.ph’s article ​How Many Child Criminals Are There in the Philippines?,
the PNP’s data shows that there had been hundreds of cases involving children aged 11 and
under since 20161. The article added, that in 2018 alone, crimes involving nine to 11-year-olds
decreased by 52 percent compared to the 2016 figure which shows that “children in conflict with
law” (CICL) have decreased by more than half at 56 percent2. Further, there were more CICL
recorded by the PNP belonging to age groups 12 to 15 and 16 to 17, reaching thousands
compared to the previous age groups’ hundreds3. But the article claims that the trend had been
the same for the past three years.
While the parents or guardians of the convict-juvenile may be held civilly liable, only the
culprit, who is the child, can be criminally liable. We have existing laws under the Civil Code
that provides liabilities of parents for their children who commit crimes. However, despite this,
children in conflict with law remains the same. Perhaps, this is the right time to amend the law
relative to parents liabilities or enact special laws that will empower parents and guardians to
raise their children morally-upright.

LEGAL BASIS:

A. Laws:
● Republic Act No. 9344 “Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act”
● Republic Act No. 10630 “An Act Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System”
● Article 220 of Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the
"Family Code of the Philippines"

1
​https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/children-crime-statistics-philippines-a00287-20190129
2
​https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/children-crime-statistics-philippines-a00287-20190129
3
​https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/children-crime-statistics-philippines-a00287-20190129
 B. Cases:
● People v. Buenaseda, G.R. No. 32931, September 11, 1930
● Roper v. Simons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
● Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010)
● Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
● A.M. No. 02-1-18-SC Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law, November 24,
2009
C. Books/Other Secondary Basis
● Bañaga, Wilma T., Breaking Rules: Children in Conflict with the Law and the
Juvenile Justice Process. The experience in the Philippines, 2004
● Cutamora, Marcelino, Jr. C, Juvenile Delinquency, 2014
● Cassel & Bernstein, Criminal Behavior (Second Edition), 2007
● Dowd, Nancy A., Justice for Kids: Keeping Kids Out of the Juvenile Justice
System, 2011
● Abitria, Rommel A, The Priorities of a Youth Justice System: A Critique of the
Philippines Juvenile Justice and Welfare System

OBJECTIVES:

● This research aims to propose a special and specific law that sanctions parents or
guardians for crimes committed by their children who are below 15 years of age.