Juvenile Delinquents: Criminals or Victims?

It is no surprise that the Philippines is a third world country wherein a significant

number of people live below the poverty line and remain unemployed or homeless. The
most common causes to this include overpopulation and low economic growth. The
Filipinos, known for their perseverance, would accept any job just to provide food on the
table for their families. With parents not being able to make enough money for the family,
even children tend to stop attending schools and start working at a very young age.
Nevertheless, with these harsh conditions, most people including children resort to crime
in order to survive. The most common crimes that the children get involved into are theft,
robbery, and the use of prohibited drugs. Thus, the Philippine government has proposed
to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years old in order to control the
number of children getting in conflict with the law. However, is this really what this country
needs?
As a student who enjoys basic education, I understand how important it is to be in
school and to have goals in life. With lowering the age of criminal responsibility, the
children who will be put in jail will be robbed of their dreams and the chance to become
the hope of their families. Not only can imprisonment damage children, this also shows
that their own country has lost hope for them to become better persons. Even so, the
conditions of this country’s criminal system are bleak, and we do not possess a conducive
child corrective facility. This proposal could also result to more children below twelve to
resort to crime, instead of decreasing the number of juvenile delinquents. Hence, the
Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, an existing law that aims to put the children in youth
care facilities instead of imposing harsh punishments, needs not to be amended but to be
properly implemented.
While it may be true that the youth serve as an opportunity for syndicates to
perform their heinous and unlawful acts, this government should always remember to
consider the youth as the victims, not the criminals. Minors who engage in these acts are
not yet capable of discernment. I could not imagine teenagers my own age being taken
to jail for acts they have resorted to as victims of their circumstance. What the lawmakers
should focus on is how to improve the children’s social welfare and access to basic needs
like food, water, and shelter. More child-caring institutions and juvenile intervention and
support centers like the Bahay Pag-asa established by the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) should be established. The passing of this proposal would not
resolve anything that this country needs. At best, it is only like slapping a Band-aid on a
much deeper wound.