JACKSONVILLE, Florida: The case of a 12-year-old murder suspect is raising a lot of furor in this city, the biggest in Florida. The suspect, Christian Fernandez, was not only identified in media but also handcuffed and thrown in jail.
If Fernandez were in the Philippines, he would not have suffered the same fate. Because he is just 12, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare System Act or Republic Act 9334 would have automatically shielded him from such treatment, as it would all suspects (children in conflict with the law) below 15, which it proclaims as “the age of discernment.” Children in this age bracket are exempted from criminal liability. Instead of detention, Fernandez would have been handed over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. While he would undergo trial, he could only be sentenced to diversion programs or community service. But Fernandez is not in the Philippines. He is in the US.
Fernandez, who weighed 140 lbs, was charged for allegedly beating up and slamming into a shelf his 2-year-old half-brother, causing his death. Although he was only 12, Fernandez was charged as an adult and thus, he underwent treatment usually accorded to adult suspects. The raging debates here were focused not on why he was charged as an adult but, rather, on how the state and society were fostering its children.
A community panel discussion on Fernandez’s case elicited the comment that America had failed its children in comparison to other developed countries. It was pointed out that the United States was the only developed country that had failed to ratify several articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. It was also revealed that Fernandez’s mother was only 12 when she was impregnated by a 20-year-old man. Two years after his birth, he and his mother were placed in foster care.
While many panelists showed sympathy for Fernandez and his mother, who was also jailed for parental negligence, the state attorney stressed that her office would do its best to find justice for a “defenseless victim,” referring to the 2-year-old half-brother of the murder suspect.
In the Philippines, there is a move among legislators to lower the age of discernment from 15 to 12. Proponents, led by Sen. Vicente “Tito Sen” Sotto 3rd, said that criminal elements have been using more and more children in their nefarious operations. After being arrested, these young offenders (okay, okay, children in conflict with the law) are handed over to the DSWD, where they easily escape to continue plying their criminal activities.
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, principal author of RA 9334, said there is nothing wrong with the law, only with some key stakeholders “who do not understand the law, and therefore are not able to implement it properly.” He maintains that young offenders should be reformed through alternative programs rather than thrown in jail with hardened criminals. Fellow Times columnist, Fr. Shay Collins PREDA, described the move as a step back to the Dark Ages. He lauded RA 9344 as “a landmark legislation of compassion that seeks to restore the deprived life of children in conflict with the law.” He lamented that despite the law, “hundreds of youth are still jailed in conditions not fit even for animals.”
Alternative solution
RA 9334 has not been fully implemented for lack of funds. Senator Kiko has been tearing his hair over this matter, and if President PNoy or Budget Secretary Butch Abad would not step in, Senator Kiko might also be bald soon. With funding woes eased, the law could stand out as, just like Fr. Shay said, “a landmark legislation of compassion.” A new age of discernment need not be determined by law to address the problem of juvenile delin_, oops, children in conflict with the law.
An alternative solution could be found in charging such children as adult like they do in the US. I’ve read of many news reports of children serving adult time in prison for committing adult crime. The age of the offender does not matter in these cases. I suggest that our lawmakers study US legislation where children are charged as adults, like Fernandez.
I also see greater need for society to step into the rearing of children, especially those at risk of turning into a life of crime, a point raised at the community discussion here on Fernandez’s case. On this issue, I hope our legislature would pass House Bill 5322 authored by Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez (Party-list YACAP), seeking to impose a stiffer penalty against parents or guardians whose negligence has resulted in their children’s or wards’ being involved in deaths or accidents.
Under Lopez’s bill, parents or guardians will also be held criminally liable for failing to prevent their minor children or wards from joining street gangs or to provide them proper education, allowing them to loiter, play or wander unsupervised by an adult in public, in motor vehicles, in traffic, and accident prone areas like streets.
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