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[av_heading heading=’Minors ‘rape’ Ajuy girl, 11′ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Saturday, March 11, 2017
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ILOILO – Four boys in Ajuy town were accused of sexually assaulting their 11-year-old friend at a farm near a school.
The alleged rape happened on Monday, but the police learned about it from the victim’s foster parents only on Thursday, according to Senior Inspector Charlie Sustento, municipal police chief.
One of the suspects was 15-year-old “Lando.” Sustento said they were pursuing charges against him.
Around noon on March 6, Lando and three other boys — “Talong,” 14, “Bokbok,” 12, and “Jan-Jan,” 11 — urged Grade 6 girl “Nene” to go to the farm near Bay-ang Elementary School in Barangay Bay-ang, said Sustento.
All suspects and the victim were attending the elementary school.
“They watched pornographic video with the victim,” said Sustento.
After which, the sexual assault happened. Sustento said they learned from the victim who asked her to remove her dress, and who held her arms and legs.
“Ginbulos-bulosan sang suspects ang victim,” stressed Sustento.
Except for Lando, the suspects cannot be charged, the police official said.
Lando was still with his parents as of this writing.
The incident came at a time when lawmakers were pushing to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 9 years old.
House Bill No. 2, or the proposed “Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility Act,” seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 9344, or the Juvenile Delinquency Act of 2006.
The latter law also known as the Pangilinan Act — it was named after Senate author Francis Pangilinan — raised the minimum age to 15 from 9 years old.
Authors of the new measure, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao del Norte, 1st District) and Fredenil Castro (Capiz, 2nd District), want to revert this.
But the Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (RJJWC) is against the measure. It stressed that lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility:
* will not stop children from involvement in crimes
* will not help reduce the crime rate in the Philippines since adults commit more (around 98 percent) of crimes reported in the country
* will not protect or help children, as it is against the best interest of the child and will further re-victimize them
* will be costly and burdensome to the government
* ignores scientific proof on children’s brain development
* is against the Philippines’ legal obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
* is unconstitutional
* is not the solution, and government should instead address the gaps and ensure the full implementation of RA 9344, as amended by RA 10630
The Social Development Committee (SDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 6 is supporting the campaign against reducing minimum criminal liability age.
“The SDC is expected to endorse [a] resolution of support for the campaign … to the Regional Development Council during its first quarter meeting on March 30,” the RDC said in a press release./PN
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