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Duterte's stance on lowering age of criminal liability unchanged- Palace

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/03/05/072016_abella.jpg"/></figure></div>MANILA- Malacañang on Saturday reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s stand to bring down the age of criminal liability even as most Filipinos preferred to keep the minimum age at 15 per a recent Pulse Asia Survey.Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said lowering the age of criminal liability would help ensure that young Filipinos would be responsible for their actions.The measure is among the Duterte administration&#x27;s priority anti-crime bills, along with the restoration of the death penalty. Duterte&#x27;s allies at the House of Representatives have proposed to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 9 from the current 15. &quot;The stance of the President, however, remains unchanged. Lowering the age of criminal liability is part of the legislative agenda of President Duterte as a means to ensure that the Filipino youth would accept responsibility for their actions and be subjected to government intervention programs,&quot; he said in a statement.The <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/17/majority-support-for-death-penalty-declines-pulse-asia">latest Pulse Asia Survey</a> showed that 55 percent of Filipinos preferred to keep the minimum age of criminality at 15 years old, up to which age they would be spared from criminal penalty. About 20 percent meanwhile favor bringing the age down to 12 years, while 9 percent want it set at 9 years old, Pulse Asia said.Thirteen percent meanwhile want to raise the age of liability to 16 to 25 years old.The survey showed that the Duterte administration&#x27;s proposal still needed to be explained to the public.&quot;What the survey shows is that there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in explaining to Filipinos, on the rationale behind lowering the minimum age of criminal liability,&quot; he said.In previous speeches, Duterte has blamed the Juvenile Justice Act and its author, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, for producing generations of youth offenders who grew up without respect for the law. The President said the law, which was passed in 2006, allowed youth offenders to walk free if below 15 years old, &quot;regardless of the gravity of the offense.&quot; <ul class="op-related-articles" title="Read:">	<li>Read: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/03/17/duterte-blames-pangilinan-law-for-young-criminal-minds">Duterte blames &#x27;Pangilinan law&#x27; for &#x27;young criminal minds&#x27; </a></li></ul>Abella added that lowering the age of criminal liability would also protect the youth from being used by criminals &quot;as frontline perpetrators of criminal acts.&quot;

MANILA- Malacañang on Saturday reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte's support for the lowering of age of criminal liability despite a recent Pulse Asia Survey showing that most Filipinos prefer to keep the minimum age at 15.

MANILA- Malacañang on Saturday reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte's support for the lowering of age of criminal liability despite a recent Pulse Asia Survey showing that most Filipinos prefer to keep the minimum age at 15.