President Marcos: Lower age of criminal liability needs study

MANILA, Philippines — Any proposal to lower the age of criminal liability in the country must be studied carefully, especially by those involved in child psychology, President Marcos said yesterday.

Several proposals on the lowering of the age of criminal liability to as young as 12 years old from the current 15 and social media ban have surfaced following the rising incidence of violence in the country involving minors.

“Whether we should lower the age of (criminal responsibility) – they’re even talking down to 12 years old – I’m not sure how that will work. We have to study it further. Our child psychologists, the surveys about mental health of children, that should be studied carefully,” Marcos said at a press conference here before flying back to Manila from Vancouver.

On the other hand, the government will ban any gaming app responsible for the desensitization of children to sex and violence, the President said.

He added that the government has already temporarily blocked gaming app Gorebox.

An initial investigation showed that the teenage suspect in the fatal shooting inside a classroom in Tacloban, Leyte had been playing the game. Marcos said the suspect was apparently an avid player of the gaming app.

Marcos said too much exposure to social media might affect children’s behavior.

“When I was growing up, we don’t have that.  So maybe that has an effect. We’re not sure,” he said.

“But we’re studying it very well because the effect is desensitization. That’s also the sexualization of young people, has the same effect, the complete availability of pornography,” he said.

The President, however, said when it is clear that a certain game, or a class of games are responsible for the desensitization of children to violence, the government will immediately ban them.