Nothing new here.
President Rodrigo Duterte once again slammed opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan on Saturday for authoring a law that raised the age of criminal liability.
Duterte said that Pangilinan, whom he called his “friend,” is the “most stupid” among senators for introducing the law.
Duterte attacked Pangilinan during a speech at the Subaraw Biodiversity Festival in Palawan. The president was addressing his critics whom he complained had nothing good to say about him.
“If you do not have anything to say except to criticize [me] like Pangilinan [does], well I’m sorry better shut up,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Duterte saying.
He then reminded that it was Pangilinan who authored the law that exempts children from criminal liability. Duterte said: “He passed the juvenile law….You can’t prosecute a fifteen years old (sic). That’s a great injustice.”
Duterte was also quoted by CNN Philippines saying: “All over the country, they (child criminals) get in and out of jail. Those who are guilty of rape with homicide are not prosecuted. Think of the time before Panglinan passed that law and compare that with what is happening now. You cannot detain that child whatever the crime may be. It could even be genocide. [But] they’re not responsible for it.”
The law Duterte is referring to is Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006. The law raised the age of criminal liability from nine to 15 years old. The law says that if a child criminal is caught, he should be immediately released by the police to his parents, guardian, or other relatives.
This is not the first time Duterte complained about the law. As early as April 2017, he said that there was a need to amend RA 9344 in a Malacañang Palace event attended by girl and boy scouts, a few of whom were as young as four years old, Rappler reported.
Yup, Duterte is so passionate about changing the law that he thought it was appropriate to talk about it with a bunch of kids.
But of course, Duterte’s supporters are here to back him up. His ally Senate President Vicente Sotto III has filed a bill seeking to lower the age of criminal liability to 13 years old.
Duterte voiced support for the bill but it was called a “giant leap backward” by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reported the Philippine Star.
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