BEFORE

Should We Lower Down The Age Of Criminal Responsibility?

To all ladies and gentleman, good morning. I am ______________ and I am here in front
of you to talk about the lowering of age of criminal responsibility. We are already familiar to the
term criminal responsibility but what does it really mean? The term Criminal Responsibility
refers to a person’s ability to understand his or her conduct at the time a crime is committed. In
other words, what a person is thinking when he commits a crime or what result is anticipated or
expected when a crime is committed. So in this speech, I am going to talk about why we should
not lower down the age of criminal responsibility.

Though the bills are backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, many children’s rights
organizations are strongly opposing it such as development and humanitarian organization,
Plan International Philippines. Here are three reasons as to why we should not lower down the
age of criminal responsibility. First, children have no place in jail. Since we all know that there
are no appropriate youth care facilities, children may be imprison in regular jails where they can
be subjected to violence and abuse. Also, jails are meant only for those adults who are mature
enough or those people who are already aware of the difference between right and wrong and
their consequences, yet, they still commit things that could put them to jail. Second, crime
syndicates will start exploiting younger children. If our government will still lower the age of
criminal responsibility, syndicates will only push further that they would use children under the
age of nine to commit for their crimes. Children are still innocent and curious that they get
influenced easily by the bad people who wants to use them for their own benefits. Lastly,
lowering the age of criminal responsibility will not lower crime rates. According to Plan
International Philippines, only 17.2% of crimes were committed by children. A majority of this
are thefts or robbery which is understandable because according to Inquirer.net, more than
twenty-six million Filipinos remain poor with almost half or a little more than twelve million living
in extreme poverty and lacking the means to feed themselves.

What I’m trying to say is that the government should not punish those children that are
needed to be rescued, supported and rehabilitated but instead punish those crime syndicates
who are taking advantage of them. Also to implement the Juvenile Justice Law, not to be
amended nor change and instead of lowering the age of criminal responsibility, we should
support the local government units in providing prevention, intervention and diversion programs
for children. Thank you.
 AFTER

Should We Lower Down The Age Of Criminal Responsibility?

Ladies and gentleman, good morning. I am _______________ and I am here to discuss
to you about the lowering of age of criminal responsibility. We are already familiar to the term
criminal responsibility but what does it really mean? According to study.com, the term Criminal
Responsibility refers to a person’s ability to understand his or her conduct at the time a crime is
committed. In other words, what a person is thinking when he commits a crime or what result is
anticipated or expected when a crime is committed. So in this speech, I am going to talk about
why we should not lower down the age of criminal responsibility.

Though the bill that would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9 is backed
by President Rodrigo Duterte, many children’s rights organizations are strongly opposing it such
as development and humanitarian organization, Plan International Philippines. Here are three
reasons as to why we should not lower down the age of criminal responsibility. First, children
have no place in jail. Since we all know that there are no appropriate youth care facilities,
children may be imprison in regular jails where they can be subjected to violence and abuse.
Also, jails are meant only for those adults who are mature enough or those people who are
already aware of the difference between right and wrong and their consequences, yet, they still
commit things that could put them to jail. Second, crime syndicates will start exploiting younger
children. If our government will still lower down the age of criminal responsibility, syndicates will
only push further that they would use children under the age of nine to commit for their crimes.
Children are still innocent and curious that they get influenced easily by the bad people who
wants to use them for their own benefits. Lastly, lowering the age of criminal responsibility will
not lower crime rates. According to Plan International Philippines, only 17.2% of crimes were
committed by children. A majority of this are thefts or robbery which is understandable
considering the circumstances because according Official Government Statistics for the First
Semester of 2015, more than twenty-six million Filipinos remain poor with almost half or a little
more than twelve million living in extreme poverty and lacking the means to feed themselves.

What I’m trying to say is that the government should not punish those children that are
needed to be rescued, supported and rehabilitated but instead punish those crime syndicates
who are taking advantage of them. Also to implement the Juvenile Justice Law, not to be
amended nor change and instead of lowering the age of criminal responsibility, we should
support the local government units in providing prevention, intervention and diversion programs
for children. Thank you and once again good morning.