With 146 congressmen voting in the affirmative and 34 in the negative, the House of Representatives on Monday night passed on third and final reading the controversial bill lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12-years-old.
At least 12 House members who were among the 192 congressmen who were present did not respond to the roll call voting.
Decried by one of the oppositors as a “distorted and malevolent” measure aimed against children, House Bill No. 8858 or the amended Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 was previously thumbed down by a big number of lawmakers when it originally proposed to penalize child offenders who are nine-years-old.
Mindoro Oriental Rep. Doy Leachon, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, said the panel decided to settle for a higher age limit of 12.
HB 8588, a consolidation of five measures seeking to amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, was approved on second reading last Wednesday.
Leachon said the committee also agreed to amend the title of the bill by changing the word “criminal” to “social responsibility.”
The measure won initial plenary approval two days after it was presented for debate, with most of the solons rising to interpellate Leachon, pointing out their strong objection to placing nine-year-old children as criminally liable for illegal acts.
House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said the House action gave Filipino families a “gloomy Monday.” Atienza thumbed down the measure for amending a law that has yet to be fully implemented.
Majority of the lawmakers opposed to the measure said government should be blamed for failing to provide for budget for the establishment of rehabilitation centers for juvenile offenders as mandated under the original law. (Ben R. Rosario)
