In Philippines, Duterte’s drug war finds a new target: 9-year-olds
- The president is pushing to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9, arguing that drug syndicates exploit the law by using juveniles to ply their trade
- A new bill stipulates sending juvenile offenders to reformation houses – but campaigners say the conditions in these are little different to adult prisons
Children’s organisations including Unicef and Save the Children say the proposals, which would reduce the age of criminal liability from 15, risk victimising some of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable children.
“Children are in a situation where they have to commit crime for survival,” said Eule Rico Bonganay, secretary general of Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns. “Because even government data shows that the profile of children in conflict with the law are mostly … from poor families, they obtained a low level of education and they live in a community where there is a high rate of crime.”
On Monday, the committee on justice at the House of Representatives voted to advance a bill supported by the president that would impose “mandatory confinement” on children aged 9-14 who commit serious crimes such as murder and drugs offences.