'Anti-poor and elitist'
Today, the House committee on justice approved an unnamed bill amending Republic Act 10630, which will lower the minimum age of criminal liability from 15 to 9 years old.
According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Philippines, the usual profile of children in conflict with the law includes: being neglected by parents, living in poverty, residing in high crime areas, not having the means to go to school, sporting low educational attainment, and being exploited both by adults and syndicates.
This information makes lowering the age of criminal liability anti-poor and outright elitist. These children are victims of socio-economic inequality—victims who are penalized too much simply by being born into an oppressed class.
However, instead of protecting them, this State chooses to oppress them further.
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