MERGED: Manaygunay sa PUJ Snatcher?

[Jumperman]

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Art. 12 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines states, among others, that:
-Children younger than 9 years old are absolutely exempt from criminal liability
-Children 9 years old and above but not older than 15 are also exempt provided that they did not act with discernment. Meaning if the child performed his part of the crime knowing it was wrong, he is not exempted and he may be taken under custody

However, RA 9344 (authored by Kiko Pangilinan, as mentioned by ongkal earlier) amended this portion of the RPC as follows:
-If crime is committed by a kid 15 years old or under, he is absolutely immune from crim. liability
-If crime is committed by a kid by a kid above 15 but not older than 18, he is still exempted unless he acted with discernment

(In relation also, Art. 14 of the RPC provides that the commission of a crime with the aid of a minor under 15 years of age is an aggravating circumstance, meaning it will raise the degree of liability of the offender.)

I came across a blog entry by a Cebuana lawyer that I want to share with you so you can better understand how such law came about. I share her sentiment. Whether this amendment was a good move or not cannot really be answered as of yet, especially given this development where criminals now use children as tools in the furtherance of their criminal activities. But the more critical thing to be considered is really discernment. Sen. Pangilinan's rationale as to why he had RA 9344 passed was that recent studies have shown that the human brain does not really fully develop until we reach 25 years old. This study has supposedly been accepted widely in America, and they now ban the execution of murderers who committed the crime when they were in their teens. I understand that we should be open to change and learn to adapt, but nonetheless I still believe that something should be done to prevent the wily criminal ringleaders from using the immunity and absolute exemption of children in their nefarious schemes.

Here's the link of the blog. Try reading it so we can be more aware about the governing laws in our country.
My Apologies to Sen. Pangilinan and to RA 9344 Eyespeak's Blog

[leann]

sa cebu ra man nako ni nabantayan sukad ko naka puyo dre.

sa mindanao pani...dugay ray rang gi chop2x/gipusil /torture/gi kidnap gibaligya sa marawi nang mga bataa.

[yhokz101]

Thanks for sharing the info.. and i agree to what Atty May was saying in her blog..


"Discernment has little to do with intelligence. It has everything to do with maturity. And just because a person is intelligent does not necessarily mean he is mature.."

"While it probably has basis for saying that children 15 and under do not have discernment, it should not end there. The law must address the issue of WHAT TO DO with these delinquents. We cannot just leave it an open issue and wash our hands. We need to address this matter. Do we need a special facility for these children? Do we need someone to create a program on how to re-wire their probably distorted brains? I was thinking that consulting the book’s author could help. We need to act. Otherwise, we could be raising a generation of criminals."

[juleskiboi]

hay same old story with these young kids starting way too young to be petty criminals then evolving to something much worse..

dli man sa pag pang look down sa atong law, government and sad to say to some of our fellow pinoys ha, but we as a whole? TOO COMPASSIONATE and MELODRAMATIC, dali ra kaau malooy to the point nga makasuka na kaau, don't you think? why not tangtangon nalang ng DWSD (tutal wala man jd na silay gamit ba) and use our taxpayers' money to build juvenile prison and rehabilitation facilities? yes, prison for young offenders.

philippines compared to singapore (since im currently in this country) when it comes to law and safety is beyond comparison jd...im not saying that perfect ang justice system sa singapore or walay crime dire, but crime rate here is almost non-existent as in...ive been here only last year (October 2010) and makasulti jd ko nga mapugos jd ug tinarong mga tawo dire (foreigners and locals) kay stricto jd sila pag implement sa ila laws dire, zero tolerance even sa mga young offenders. they still get sentenced, pay the fine, and in some cases(depende sa gravity sa offense), get caned. yes, you read it right, caned. and to top it all, their juvenile centres here (w/c i happen to pass by everytime i take the bus padung uli gikan work) looks like prison sa mga adults (big area w/ 2-3 buildings, tall covered fences with barbed wires sa taas, etc - ill try to get a pic para kita pd mo; atong DSWD ma murag health center kung itapad ani ila facilities), maka dali2 pa kaha ug inamaw mga batan-on dire? though naa pd ghapon badlongon but menos ra jd kaau sa ako naobserbaran, naay uban kiat lang labi na kung tapok2, but that's about it...i know singapore is just a small country to manage, but hey, cebu is not a big island itself dba?

kung ing-ani palang ang naa sa atoa maskin sa cebu lang, i believe that mo menos jd ug dako ang crime rate sa atong lugar, at least we would feel safe in our area. then hopefully if makita ni sa ato neighboring islands w/in the country, they will also follow. but i guess this is far from reality from now, the way things are happening to our place and country as a whole.

sad to say, atong gov't officials sayon ra kau i-preach mga ing-ani nga mga bills kay most likely, wala sila ka experience ani (like Pangilinan) kay most of them de sakyanan with security aides pa jd gani, kinsa may bogo nga snatcher mulabni or mutulis ani nila kuno? or if ever kasuway man gani sila ani nga ma-snatchan or matulis, daghan man pd sila money to replace those item/s stolen from them, so why bother much dba? kuwang nalang musulti cguro "ay ok ra to, iya nalang to uy batian nman pd ko ato."

i hope naa pay kausaban atong lugar or country uy...i always fear for my family's safety baya nga naa sa atoa tungod sa akong na experience nga safety dire sa singapore. i hope our gov't will do something about it for real..

[Hammer_and_Sickle]

hahahaha, dili fully develop until 25?
sa america?
sa mga kano siguro epektibo na pero diri,
makita nato unsa na ka develop ang otok sa bata diri, de na gani mahadlok,
hahahahahaha, vigilante, mao ra ang instant answer ani para malimpyo ang katilingban

[malic_2]

Mga bai the reason why these bad guys are using minors to do their dirty deeds is to deter any attempt nga mogamit og vigilante. lisod pod baya kong pusilon nimo ang bata, mas malooy man gud ang mga tao sa bata.

[Hammer_and_Sickle]

mag-train pud ang mga vigilante ug bata, tabla na, hehehehe
evil vs evil LOL

[moklo]

Mga umaabot ni sila nga mga bulyagon sa katilingban..

[chaowix]

dapat usbon najud ang balaod and dapat pud ang police 24/7. ang police mura man ug 8-6 shift. nig 6pm- 7am wa jud koi makitang pulis. maski mag lakaw2x ta sa dalan. mag tambay raman pud sa 1 ka lugar matog

[teoding]

ang parents maoy angay prisohon. pataka lang og buhat nya di kamao mu buhi. kung unsa ang ugat og puno-an...mao sad ang bunga.