MANILA — Sen. Francis Pangilinan opposed renewed proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal liability in the wake of the fatal school shooting in Tacloban City, saying stronger enforcement of existing laws would be a better response to youth-related offenses.

In a Facebook Live discussion with Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) Executive Director Tricia Clare Oco, Pangilinan said reducing the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old would not address the underlying causes of juvenile crime.

“Rather than amend the law, it’s to strengthen the enforcement of the law,” he said.

He added that improved implementation of current policies, along with stronger family and community support systems, would be more effective in preventing children from getting involved in criminal activity.

Oco supported the senator’s position, citing studies that point to family issues, peer influence, community conditions, and poverty—not the legal age threshold—as the main factors behind juvenile offenses.

“Ang causes talaga, yung drivers ng violence, hindi yun dahil alam ng bata yung batas. Dapat tingnan din natin talaga yung real causes kung bakit nila ginagawa ito kasi it’s not about the minimum age (The drivers of violence are not because children know the law. We should really examine the real causes behind these acts because it is not about the minimum age),” she said.

The discussion came amid public concern following the Tacloban shooting that killed three students and injured several others, which has reignited debate on the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

Oco also defended the law’s restorative justice approach, saying many young offenders have benefited from rehabilitation programs that helped them reform.

“Marami po tayong success stories, sir, ng mga bata na napariwara sila, hindi ganito yung krimen na nagawa nila. At dahil sa batas, ngayon ang ayos na ng buhay nila (We have many success stories of children who went astray, though not for crimes like this, and because of the law, their lives have improved),” she said.

Pangilinan stressed that the law should not be judged based on isolated cases, noting that many rehabilitated minors have become productive members of society.

The senator and the JJWC official also reiterated that existing laws already allow accountability for minors involved in serious offenses through criminal prosecution, involuntary confinement, and court-ordered rehabilitation, depending on age and discernment.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed support for proposals to restrict children’s access to social media following the Tacloban incident, warning that online content could influence young users.

“This tragedy should push us to confront a hard truth: matindi na ang influence ng social media sa mga bata (the influence of social media on children has become very strong),” Zubiri said.

He also cited the pending Social Media Safety for Children Act, which seeks to bar children below 16 from maintaining social media accounts, and raised the possibility of reviewing the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act to study whether minors as young as 14 who commit heinous crimes should be tried as adults.