Former Justice Secretary and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist Representative Leila M. de Lima strongly opposed Senator Robin Padilla’s proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old, calling it a “betrayal” of the nation’s duty to protect children.
“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old is not justice. It is abdication,” De Lima said in a statement dated July 20, 2025. “It is a failure of imagination, of compassion, and of government.”
Padilla’s proposed amendment to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (RA 9344) seeks to remove the exemption from criminal liability for children aged 10 to 17 who commit heinous crimes. Heinous crimes are defined under the measure as murder, parricide, rape, and drug-related offenses punishable by more than 12 years of imprisonment.
Under the bill, children 10 years and older who are accused of heinous crimes would no longer be placed in child-caring institutions like Bahay Pag-asa but may instead face prosecution, effectively lifting the rehabilitative protection offered by the current law.
De Lima, however, rejected this framework, saying the proposal fails to address the root causes of juvenile crime and instead punishes children who are themselves victims of neglect, abuse, and systemic failures.
“Hindi kriminal ang bata. Ang batang naligaw ay hindi dapat kinukulong kundi kinakausap, inaaruga, at binibigyan ng pag-asa,” she asserted, emphasizing the need for compassion and structured intervention over incarceration.
She noted that the current law is already progressive and grounded in restorative justice, but implementation has fallen short.
“What we lack is not legislation, but thoughtful implementation,” she said, pointing out the shortage of properly funded and staffed Bahay Pag-asa centers across the country.
As a former DOJ secretary, De Lima warned of the long-term harm incarceration can inflict on minors. “I have seen what jails do to children. And I have seen what care, education, and structured rehabilitation can achieve. The difference is life-changing. Sometimes, life-saving.”
She urged fellow lawmakers to view the issue not through the lens of being “tough on crime” but through the moral responsibility of a just society.
“To be truly just is to know the difference between punishment and cruelty,” De Lima said. “If we don’t like what we see in our children, it is not the mirror we must shatter. It is the reflection of our failures.”
