House Bill No.

6052 aims to define youthful offender as a child above 12 but at least 15 years of age who acted with discernment. This is in contrast to the current law, RA 9344, which defines youthful offenders as a child above 15 but at least 18 years of age. Organized syndicates use children 12 and below to beg, rob to commit crimes. One vendor, who requested anonymity in a newspaper interview said that a certain Empoy has been taking care of the children begging along C.M. Recto and Rizal Avenues and in Sta. Cruz. He said the children, most of them younger than 10, are told to ride passenger jeepneys and beg. Another vendor, who has been at her trade for several years, said the children who start out as beggars go on to snatching and robbing when they grow older. A section of Rizal Avenue, from C.M. Recto to Blumentritt Market, is notorious for snatching and robberies, she said. Minors can now commit murder. In a recent event, a 9-year-old boy was killed by two other children. The boy was chased by the children and beat the former after catching him. His hands was then bound and was pushed in 5ft hole where the boy drowned soon after. One of the suspects, an 11-year-old boy, has been arrested. Since the suspect is a minor, no charges were filed and he was placed under the custody of the Social Welfare Department. In an another instance, children robs from trucks and are caught inhaling rugby. Poverty is one of the factors why some innocent children are doing or are forced to do such criminal acts. Hunger and desperation play major roles in twisting a child's mind. The proposed amendment will be a deterrent to children to avoid a

life of crime. If a potential problem is confronted early on, it will no longer grow worse. Sources: http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=6213 http://ccggph.com/2012/02/children-in-conflict-with-the-law/ http://tropicalpenpals.com/blog/things-related-directly-about-thephilippines/archieve-news/street-kids-robbing-from-a-truck-intraffic-mandauecebuphilippines/ http://kurukuronimye.com/tag/philippines-robbery-syndicates/ http://www.philstar.com/metro/2012/12/03/879157/syndicatebehind-child-beggars-downtown-manila http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/11/02/12/9-yearold-boy-killed-batang-hamog