Prison destroys future of children — UNICEF exec

MANILA, Philippines — Lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility would have dire consequences on the future of children placed in prisons, the Philippine representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned.

Speaking at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, UNICEF Philippine representative Lotta Sylwander said putting children in prison enhances their criminal behavior.

“We have global evidence about this. It doesn’t keep the child out of criminality. In fact, it enhances the child’s criminal behavior. They are sort of groomed into being criminals when they are put into prison,” she said.

“There are hardly any examples showing children returning to a normal life after they are thrown into prison as children,” she added.

Instead of putting children in prisons, Sylwander said children in conflict with the law should be put through a restorative justice procedure that it already provided under the existing Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

Sylwander called for additional resources to enable the full implementation of the law, which sets the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15.

A proposal is pending in Congress to lower it to at least 13 years old.

But according to the UNICEF official, it is unfair to put the blame on children, given that many of them are forced to commit criminal acts by the adults around them.

“Giving the child the blame and responsibility for actions is very unfair because they do not understand, they do not have that cognizant capacity,” she said.

“We as adults should put the effort into actually helping these children into a normal, stable life. Taking them out of a bad family situation, take them out of gangs and restore their right to a proper and fair life,” added Sylwander.

Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, who was also at the forum, agreed with the UNICEF official that criminalizing acts of young children is not the solution to the problem.

However, she stressed the need to understand officials, including President Duterte, who saw that the higher minimum age of criminal responsibility has resulted in more minors committing crimes.

“There is a belief that because we increased it to 15, that created boldness in the criminal minds to use the children,” she said. “We have to understand the causes to understand the frame of mind of people.”

Cayetano stressed the need to address the root causes of the problem, including poverty and teenage pregnancy.

“One, we need to get the children out of the streets and number two, make them accountable or make them understand that what they are doing is not acceptable,” she said.