A proposal in the House of Representatives to lower the age of young offenders facing criminal liability is drawing negative reactions from various sectors. Rep. Fredenil Castro wants to lower the age of minors who commit a crime to nine years old exempting them from prosecution.
At present, young offenders below the age of 15 are turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development when arrested. The hardcore criminals who are the handlers of these juvenile offenders use these kids because they are not prosecuted when caught. The result is that these minors over time develop into career criminals.
Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza opposes Castro’s proposal. This, according to Atienza, is an admission that the criminal justice system is not working, He also laments that the liability of parents of these errant minors is overlooked when it’s their responsibility to guide their children to grow up as law-abiding citizens.
Atienza also pointed out that young offenders, when detained with hardened criminals become recidivists and ultimately become members of criminal syndicates. He urged the government to strengthen the juvenile reform system and the DSWD to improve its rehabilitation of young offenders turned over to them by the police.
Atienza also suggested that local government units like the neighborhood barangays be given a bigger role since they know members of their community more than the police. Toward this end, Atienza advocates that local governments be given a bigger share of the revenues they generate to build drug rehabilitation centers and sport facilities.
He cited that crime thrives in poor areas specially among the homeless. Desperate families like the informal settlers Kadamay that took over a housing project in Pandi, Bulacan is an example of mob rule allowed to prevail, said Atienza. While it’s a stroke of public relations genius, Atienza said that when President Duterte let the Kadamay home invaders keep the houses meant for military and police personnel, he unwittingly abetted anarchy. This was the same sentiment of Senators Dick Gordon and Ping Lacson who said not enforcing the law could lead to anarchy.
Atienza said the situation brought about by Kadamay should have been handled by the government agency concern instead of letting it reached the level of the President. He recalled that he was faced with the same situation when he was with the National Housing Authority under then President Cory Aquino in 1986. A group of informal settlers tried to take over the Karangalan housing project in Pasig, Atienza handled the problem at his level without burdening Cory Aquino with it. The houses were meant for the police and another site was for public school teachers. With police enforcing the law against mob rule, Atienza was able to stabilize the situation and restore the housing project to the rightful beneficiaries. I suppose it’s about the management style of public officials—those who can do and those who can’t.
It was this grit and savvy that made Atienza effective as assemblyman, three-term Manila mayor, DENR secretary and currently congressman.
Come to think of it, we never heard from the NHA nor the DILG at the height of the tension in the Pandi housing project. President Duterte had to deal with the problem himself. The result was that the President had to take draconian measures that was against the basic law of ownership. If the President did not, there would have been bloodshed between the desperate homeless people and the police who were ready to disperse and dislodge them.
But if I remember right the sensitive Cabinet post of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was left vacant when Vice President Leni Robredo was relieved of the position. A Malacañang functionary, we were told, is handling the job.
Perhaps the President, over the dinner he had invited the VP to, could reappoint her. There’s so much to be done for the country the deep political division rending it can be set aside. If Robredo can’t deliver, then fire her. But first he must give her a chance to prove herself. ‘
The sensitive DILG post should also be filled with a full-time secretary. The Department of the Interior and Local Government is facing many challenges. The arrest of a Kuwaiti and his Syrian wife has given the country warning of the ISIS presence and threat here. Encounters with the communist New People’s Army are ongoing even as the National Democratic Front and the government panel are talking peace in Norway. The Abu Sayyaf continues its nefarious trade of kidnap for ransom in Mindanao. There is no let-up in the government’s anti-drug war. These are all challenges needing the DILG’s attention in the area of law enforcement.
