Wazzup Pilipinas!?
You can dress it up in legal jargon. You can wrap it in the rhetoric of “public safety” and “law and order.” But at its core, Senator Robin Padilla’s push to jail 10-year-olds is not a bold reform — it’s a disgrace.
It is the perfect case study of what happens when legislation is driven by bravado instead of brains, by ego instead of evidence. When a leader shows no grasp of child psychology, no regard for human rights, and no awareness of global standards, that leader becomes a danger to the very people they swore to protect.
The United Nations is clear: 14 is the internationally accepted minimum age of criminal liability. Yet here we are, watching a senator drag our laws — and our moral compass — backwards. Instead of dismantling the cycle of poverty, abuse, and systemic neglect that pushes children into crime, Padilla chooses the laziest path: punish the child, ignore the root.
At 10 years old, a child’s brain is still under construction. Neuroscience tells us they lack the cognitive maturity to fully grasp consequences. This is not just compassion talking — it’s science. But science doesn’t seem to stand a chance against the theatrics of “tough-on-crime” posturing.
And let’s be blunt: the real criminals are not the kids caught stealing food or acting out under the influence of abusive adults. The real criminals are the adults who groom, exploit, and abandon them — the drug syndicates that use them as couriers, the politicians who steal from education and social welfare budgets, and yes, the lawmakers who would rather cage them than save them.
If we truly care about safer streets, the answer is not to throw a 10-year-old into a prison system already notorious for overcrowding, abuse, and a lack of rehabilitation. The answer is to attack poverty with the same ferocity that some politicians attack the poor. It is to build rehabilitation centers worthy of the name, to strengthen community support systems, and to ensure that adults — not children — are held accountable for crimes committed under their watch.
Lowering the age of criminal liability to 10 is not justice. It is an admission of failure — a confession that we have failed to protect, educate, and nurture our children. It is state-sponsored abandonment dressed as law and order.
Protect children from crime. Don’t turn them into criminals. And to those who voted for this brand of leadership: remember this moment. The shame is not just his. It’s yours too.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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