I originally posted this story on Facebook and, as of date, it already got 9.2K reactions, 1.2K Comment and 5.7K Shares.
One of the reasons I am totally for the lowering of the age of criminal liability is becuase I’ve seen the flaws of the old law in my legal practice. I’ve handled a lot of cases where kids over 9 and below 15 have escaped liability. Pero there is one case that we handled that’s above it all.
I didn’t want to narrate this case because, I feared that I may be violating lawyer-client priviledge. And I might get a violent reaction from the parents. Pero, I will not name names and I will be as vague as possible.
Eto po ang kwento. Totoong kaso na hinawakan ko.
Matagal na itong kasong ito. Bagong bago pa lang ang batas na nagtataas ng criminal liability age to 15. So, nung nangyari ito. Totally exempt na from criminal liability ang below 15 years old.
Rape case ito. At hindi lang rape. Gang rape. Tatlong batang lalaki (14 years old), nirape ang classmate nila (14 years old din).
Sa madaling salita. Abswelto sa kriminal liability ang mga batang lalaki.
Isipin ninyo ano ang nararamdaman nuong batang babae. Gano kahirap kaya bago niya naikwento sa magulang niya ang dinanas niya? Iniisip niya na matutulungan siya ng magulang niya at ng batas.
Pero noong pumunta ang mga magulang sa mga abugado, ano ang sanabi sa kanila ng abugado, “sorry po. Wala kaming magagawa”.
Bilang magulang. Ano ang sasabihin mo sa anak mo kung nangyari ito. “Sorry anak, wala tayong magagawa”.
Tapos titingin siya sa kabila, makikita niya yung tatlong batang lalaki na nakangiti at iniisip na, “ni-rape ka namin at wala kang magagawa”.
Ano na kaya ang naramdaman ng batang na-rape at walang makuhang hustisya?
Tignan natin ang side ng mga batang lalaki. Dahil hindi sila criminally liable, tingin nyo ba pinagsisisihan nila ginawa nila? Tingin niyo ba magbabago sila?
Or hindi kaya, lumala pa ang pagka kriminal nila at madala nila ito hanggat katandaan?
Nasan na kaya sila ngayon?
Actual na kaso ito. Isang patunay na hindi lahat ng bata inosente. Ang sinsasabi ko ay simple. Protektahan natin ang mga batang inosente. Pero biyan ng criminal liability ang mga batang kriminal.
This was reposted at www.readempire.info under the heading “Rockstar Lawyer in favor of lowering age of criminal liability”. There it was stated that:
While many people are outraged of the proposed bill of lowering the age of criminal liability from 15 to 9 years old, there are some people who support the said bill.
A lawyer named Carlo Ybanez decided to explain his side on Facebook just recently.His justification is that of one of the cases he has handled before, saying that that instance is why he believes the age must be lowered.
Heartbreaking story of injustice
According to Ybanez, he once had a client before whom he wanted to defend but cannot do anything about it.
He says that this occurred when the law of having the age of criminal liability of 15 was still fresh and new.
According to him, he had a client who was gang raped. The girl was raped by her 3 boy classmates whose ages were all 14 years old.
He says how the victim must have had suffered a lot and suffered even more before she had the strength to tell her parents what had happened. Even more, he says that the family sought for his help hoping to bring justice to their child.
However, because the perpetrators were only 14 years old, they were not imprisoned. Ybanez says they were into held criminally liable for their actions.Not all children are innocent
Continuing on, Ybanez says that he doubts that the boys have changed. He says that he feels like they have not learned their lesson because they were not imprisoned.
He adds that while he knows that majority of children are innocent, he believes that the law must exist to apprehend those who are not.
Click here for my original post
Click here for the article of www.readempire.info
Photo by Carlo Ybanez Photography. The image is merely a recreation and are not any of the persons mentioned in the article. Proper release consent and release forms were secured when taking the photo.
