The House of Representatives is set to pass Monday on third and final reading a bill seeking to lower the minimum age of social responsibility from 15 to 12-years-old.
House Majority Leader and Capiz Rep. Fredenil “Fred” Castro, chairperson of the House Committee on Rules, said they are poised to approve the bill Monday.
“We will try to pass the bill on minimum age of social responsibility,” Castro said when asked if the House will pass the measure on third and final reading Monday.
House Bill No. 8858, which seeks to amend the “Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006” or Republic Act No. 9344, was approved on second reading last Wednesday.
The plenary decided to adopt a version setting at 12-years-old the minimum age of social liability of children instead of nine.
“The 12-years-old was the consensus,” Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, said.
Last Jan. 21, the Leachon panel passed a substitute lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility to nine years of age.
Leachon also noted that the plenary decided to change the word “criminal” to “social” from the original minimum age of criminal responsibility to minimum age of social responsibility to align it with the Senate version which is under deliberations.
He maintained that the measure seeks to protect children from being used by criminal syndicates.
The Makabayan bloc sought the reopening of debates on the bill, which, they said, “suffers infirmities.”
“We demand the reopening of debates on the minimum age for criminal responsibility to tackle the last-minute amendment to the substitute bill,” it said. (Charissa L. Atienza)