‘Kill Bill’

NO! The Great Debate concerning children’s criminal liability should not be about age or how old children have to be in order for the police to arrest and charge them in court or hand them over to the DSWD.  The Great Debate should be on how to fix our broken justice system and operationally challenged law enforcement system. The debate is not about age. In fact there should be no debate over what age is best. We should simply “Kill Bill” as in kill the proposed bill!

Another great debate should be over the competence and how factual and thorough our legislators are in their work of writing bills and laws. As it turns out many members of Congress who supported the lowering of the MACR or Minimum Age for Criminal Responsibility did not even see the bill or any study that validated and supported the end goal of lowering the age to nine years old. The bottom line is that the magic number nine was simply congressional obedience to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for Congress to do his bidding. But now that there has been a public uproar against the nine-year-old limit, Congress is talking about the compromise age of 12 years old. But we discovered on AGENDA that the 12-year-old limit is actually based on the United Nations agreed policy of treaty signatories setting 12 years old as the internationally acceptable age for criminal responsibility.

In terms of data gathering legislators are largely dependent on presumptions and subsequent discoveries made through public hearings or “investigations in aid of legislation” and not as much on scientific data, statistics and expert opinion or studies made by stakeholders actually invested on issues or directly involved in issues of public concern. In the latest hearing conducted by the Senate, experts engaged in child rights and protection revealed that there are less than half of the required DSWD shelters or “Bahay Pag-asa” needed or prescribed by law to take care of CICLs or Children in Conflict with the Law. You would think that even before passing a bill, our “honorable” members of Congress would inquire and verify the information passed on to them by their staff. Clearly the concept or term “Complete Staff Work” is something people at the Batasan need to learn or relearn. Laws of the land should be founded on “due diligence” and not secondhand information or faulty impressions.

There is still hope that there are enough intelligent and politically independent Senators who will block the bill proposing to lower the age of criminal liability to nine or 12 years of age. The saddest commentary we can make about the proposal is that it is a bill or a proposal being rubber stamped by congressional rubber stamps. Perhaps it is worth reminding legislators that if their proposal becomes law that result with disastrous consequences on minors they will be accountable here and beyond:

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.” – Matthew 18:6

I’m putting this Bible verse here for our legislators to see and read because no less than our Lord Jesus Christ has spelled out that if you cause children to commit sin directly or indirectly, there will be dire consequences. Legislators may sincerely believe that they are trying to protect children from being used by criminal elements by removing a nine-year-old’s immunity from jail. But if in the process of arrest, detention etc., the children end up becoming worse or more criminally minded, then all the legislators who signed away the interest and rights of minors by passing the law that lowers the age of criminal liability to nine years old will in turn also be responsible before the judgment seat of God. 

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Remember the song that goes: “Who let the dogs out”?  Well in case you happen to be one of those laidback dog or cat owners who let your dogs wander around in the neighborhood, bear in mind that if your dog or cat bites someone YOU are bound by law to pay for the medical expenses required to treat the bite victim. In a recent episode of Agenda on Cignal TV, I learned so much about rabies, the animal welfare act as well as the government’s situation regarding vaccines and vaccination.

Aside from having to foot the bill, the dog owner is responsible for making sure that their pets are vaccinated and must keep the vaccination records because the information contained in those booklets will tell physicians and vets alike the history of the animal, what type of vaccine was given to the animal and if the vaccination is still effective or should be followed up with an annual booster shot.

To allay our suspicion that vaccination/treatment for rabies is being commercialized, DVM Mace Licuanan of the Philippine Pet Birth Control Center and Dr. Ronaldo Quintana, the program manager of the DOH Rabies eradication program both reassured viewers that the “automatic” response of people and physicians that bite victims should immediately get anti rabies shots are rational and well founded. Rabies can affect bite victims anywhere from four to 20 days and can be dormant  in their system for something like seven years. The nerve damage progresses at an estimated three mm a day so if the bite is anywhere from the buttocks, back or neck there is an even greater risk due to proximity to the central nervous system.

Unfortunately, the Philippines requires such a huge volume of the vaccine that suppliers have stepped away from bidding until recently when the DOH strategically split up the funding for purchases to separate units and orders which can now be met by suppliers. With all that info, please check if the dogs are out in your area and report them to city hall.

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