The Philippine Juvenile Justice Law may need to be revisited in light of recent violent incidents involving minors, including the fatal shooting at a school in Tacloban City, Senator Ping Lacson said.
Lacson said the law’s provisions on criminal liability deserve renewed public discussion where age should not automatically exempt offenders from accountability, as he cited the gruesome murder case of a two-year-old boy in England in 1993.
“Discernment to be proven beyond reasonable doubt by state prosecutors as per the latest SC ruling should be safeguard enough to serve justice to all concerned.”
“Our Juvenile Justice Law may really need revisiting and further discussion. The February 12, 1993 Liverpool, England case of 2-year-old James Patrick Bulger who was abducted and murdered by two 10-year-old boys may convince us to reconsider age as an automatic exemption from criminal liability. Discernment to be proven beyond reasonable doubt by state prosecutors as per the latest SC ruling should be safeguard enough to serve justice to all concerned,” the veteran legislator said in a post on X.
In February 1993, two 10-year-old boys abducted, tortured and murdered two-year-old James Patrick Bulger. The case drew international attention while the conviction of the two boys prompted discussions on how legal systems should balance accountability, public safety and the rehabilitation of young offenders.
Last Monday, at least three were killed and several were wounded after two male students aged 14 and 15 fired several gunshots in the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.
One of them reportedly used a 9-mm pistol owned by his aunt, a police staff sergeant. The other used a cal-.38 revolver registered to a Cebu-based security agency where his grandfather supposedly worked.
Police investigators were quoted as saying the two planned the attack as early as May 1, and had discussed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act while planning the shooting.
“The law contains mechanisms to hold minors accountable while ensuring their rehabilitation.”
Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council Executive Director Tricia Clare Oco said the law contains mechanisms to hold minors accountable while ensuring their rehabilitation.
On the other hand, the Philippine Supreme Court had ruled that there is a different standard in determining a minor’s culpability for crimes, hence the need for guidelines to streamline the discernment determination process for crimes involving children in conflict with the law.
In its ruling, the high court said there is no presumption that a minor acts with discernment. It added the prosecution must specifically prove as a separate circumstance that the alleged crime was committed with discernment.
“For a minor at such an age to be criminally liable, the prosecution is burdened to prove beyond reasonable doubt, by direct or circumstantial evidence, that he or she acted with discernment,” it said.
