Tacloban shooting: Padilla seeks amendment of Juvenile Justice Act

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — The shooting incident at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City is another indication of the urgency to already amend the Juvenile Justice Act, according to Senator Robin Padilla.

Padilla said in a social media post shortly after the shooting incident happened at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 22:

“Sunod sunod na po ito

May hold up

May rape

Ngayon pamamaril sa paaralan…

Ano po ba hinihintay ng mga kasama nating mga senador?”

(It’s just one after another. There’s holdup, rape, and now school shooting. What exactly are my fellow senators waiting for?)

READ: Tacloban school shooting: Teachers, students help stop suspect

“May pag asa kaya na ma special session ang kalagayan ng aking panukala para amendahan ang juvenile justice act?” Robin Padilla added. (Is there still hope for a special session regarding the status of my proposal to amend the Juvenile Justice Act?)

Criminal responsibility

Last year, Padilla filed Senate Bill No. 372 that seeks to amend Republic Act No. 9344, or The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006. Under his proposal, Padilla wanted to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 10 years old for children involved in heinous crimes.

READ: Tacloban school shooting: Gov’t moves to aid victims, probe launched

If passed into law, children aged 10 to 17 would already face criminal prosecution if involved in grave offenses like murder, rape, parricide, and drug-related crimes covered by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The current law exempts children 15 years old and below from criminal liability. Instead, they are made to undergo intervention and rehabilitation programs.

Moreover, minors aged 15 to 18 also enjoy exemption unless they acted with discernment.

READ: Group reminds Robin Padilla: Kids also deserve a second chance like you

Waling-waling law

Padilla expressed his frustration on the delays in the approval of his proposed measure and the recent passage of legislation that are not as equally important.

“Maraming salamat nga po pala sa pagpasa ng waling waling na co author po ako, napakahalaga po ng panukala na yan para sa ating bayan,” he said. (Thank you very much for the passage of the Waling-waling, which I co-authored. This measure is highly important for our country.)

“In shaa Allah ay maging ganyan din po kabilis ang pagtugon sa panukala ko para naman sa kaligtasan ng kabataan at ng taumbayan,” he added. (I hope the response to my proposal will be just as swift for the safety of the youth and the community.)

Padilla was referring to Senate Bill No. 2092 that declares the Waling-waling (Vanda sanderiana) as the official National Orchid of the Philippines.

READ: PNP: Obstruction raps vs Robin Padilla unaffected by returned complaint

Violence in school

At least three incidents of violence were reported in different schools in the country this June alone.

The first one, reported last June 16, involved a knife attack in General Trias in Cavite that injured seven students. Two days later or on June 19, a Grade 11 student was killed in Cavite City after being allegedly stabbed by another student.

The most recent incident of school violence happened at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have expressed concern over the stabbing incidents that occurred in Cavite during the first week of classes.

DepEd in Eastern Visayas has also condemned the shooting incident in Tacloban City.

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