30/06/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐
No child is born a criminal, yet it is alarming how incidents of youthโled violence are spiking. Adults prey on them, demanding heavier accountability, while failing to recognize their own responsibility to guide and protect. The children should be the beacon of hope for our society, but instead they are being transformed into monsters by the very people who should be nurturing them.
The recent school shooting in Tacloban City reignited the fierce debate regarding the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (RA 9344).
Many citizens are putting the blame on the law, arguing that criminal offenses committed by minors were not punished. However, many fail to see the bigger picture. It must be recognized that RA 9344 does not absolve minors of accountability; rather, it ensures that justice is applied in proportion to their age, discernment, and rights. To claim that the law is the reason behind such tragedies is a misguided attempt to scapegoat legislation, while ignoring the deeper truth that the childrenโs actions are shaped by the environments adults themselves created.
The law does not give a free pass for minors to commit crimesโthey are still held accountable for their actions. As stated in Section 6 of RA 9344, children below 15 years old are exempt from criminal liability but not from civil liability, as they are required to undergo an intervention program that addresses their behavior and reintegrates them into society. In addition, minors above 15 but below 18 years old shall face criminal liability if proven to have acted with discernment, meaning they understood the wrongfulness of their act and its consequences.
Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) are the ones being blamed for their actions, yet the reasons why they commit such acts are being ignored. Is it really the childโs fault that the environment he or she grew up in failed to provide guidance, protection, and care?
Childrenโs behaviors are often patterned after the environment in which they grew up. According to research, neglectful parenting, abuse, and poverty are some reasons that increase the risk of child delinquency, and other studies show similar patterns among CICL. Yet adults are quick to point fingers and condemn these children while ignoring the deeper reasons behind their actions. In doing so, they overlook the unsettling truth that they are the ones who enabled the environment that shaped the children's choices.
It is troubling how lazy the society's mindset could beโrelying on the law to shoulder the responsibility that adults themselves have neglected. Instead of instilling discipline, guidance, and values that could shape children into good citizens, adults pass the burden onto legislation and punishment.
Moreover, despite receiving the largest share of the national budget, the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to fail in providing schools that are safe and secure for students, especially amid man-made crises such as violence and shootings. Children ask for quality education, proper guidance, and safetyโbasic needs that must be guaranteed to themโyet what they are given are overcrowded classrooms, crumbling facilities, and unsafe spaces.
When society fails to provide even a fraction of what the youth deserve, it is hypocritical to turn around and blame them for the consequences of that neglect. And tragically, it is not the negligent institutions or the finger-pointing adults who pay the highest price for this failureโit is the families left behind.
If legislative change is deemed necessary, it must not stop at drafting laws alone; the government must prove its seriousness by ensuring strict implementation and enforcement, showing that justice is not only written on paper but lived out in action. Adults cannot demand accountability from children when they themselves refuse to acknowledge their own shortcomings. What must change is not the law, but the mindset of a society that disregards childrenโs needs and focuses on sanctions rather than interventions.
If justice is to be real, it must mean accountability for both minors and the adults who shape their world. True justice will only prevail when adults step up, fulfill their responsibility, and stop relying solely on laws to capture the monsters they could have prevented from being created.
Because at the end of the day, beyond legal frameworks and political debates, what truly matters is prevention and protection. Even with all the legal provisions and technical arguments, no amount of words could ease the pain of the parents who lost their children to this violence. Their grief is raw, their hearts are bleeding, and their cries echo the unbearable truth that no legislation could ever return the lives taken so soon. The debates mean nothing to them compared to the agonizing silence of the empty chair at the dining table, and the laughter that vanished inside their homes.
