Netizens writes open letter to Anne Curtis who criticized the lowering of age of criminal liability: “Mayaman kasi kayo kaya hindi niyo alam ang nangyayari saming mahihirap!”

On January 22, Actress and TV host Anne Curtis-Smith criticized the move of the government to lower the age of criminal responsibility from the age of 15 to 9.

In her twitter post, Curtis-Smith who’s appointed as one of the celebrity advocates of United Nations agency for children’s welfare was saddened by the recent plant of the Duterte administration, believing that a nine-year-old child should still be protected by law because of they’re still immature.

“Nakakalungkot isipan na ibaba nila ang criminal responsibility to the age of 9. At that age, they are still very much children. They still have a chance to change their ways if they happen to cause or get into any trouble instead of being sent to jail & sentenced as an adult.” Curtis-Smith said in her post.

While her followers supported her, some Twitter user didn’t agree of Curtis-Smith, saying that she misunderstood the proposal of the government.

Netizen Patrick Lazarraga said that Curtis-Smith was out of touch with reality because the actress is living in a luxury life while minor lawbreakers are victimizing the ordinary Filipinos.

“The problem is MAYAMAN kayo, hindi niyo alam kung ano ngyayari sa mga mahihirap na Lugar. Naka private car kayo. Pano kaming mga commuters? Kahit tanghaling tapat may naghahabulan ng itak. May mag snatch ng fhone mo. Pero Dahil bata hindi dapat makulong?” Lazarraga said.

“Karamihan kasi sa panahon ngahn ms. Ann ginagamit ang mga bata para gumawa ng indi maganda. Sa ganitong batas masasabi ko na ang mga bata mag kakaroon ng takot kahit papaano kasi di na sila excuse sa batas at ang mga magulang mas magiging maingat sa kanilang mga anak!” he added.

Meanwhile on Facebook, netizens also reacted on the statement of Curtis-Smith, saying that the actress should read the proposed bill first before releasing her opinion on social media.

“Mam pakibasa po muna yung provision hindi po react ng react. Mali mali po kasi. Hindi po 9yrs old, 12 na po. Hindi rin po sa jail dadalhin, sa reformative institution dadalhin ang bata. Lastly, iba po ang treatment sa kanila hindi tulad sa adult. Read before you react mam. Salamat po.” Mocha Uson posted.

Netizen Sheenna Pantaleon pointed out that Australia, the country where Anne Curtis-Smith came from is currently implementing a lower age of criminal liability of 10.

She also believed that the current system in Australia helped the said country to achieve peace and order.

Dear Anne,  The criminal liability in Australia is a minimum of 10 and not more than 14 years old. You may want to learn more about how that worked for the country where you grew up and appreciate how and why it worked for the peace and progress there. That is if you really want to learn how the system works.” Pantaleon said.

British blogger Malcolm Conlan also wrote an open letter to Curtis-Smith and UNICEF to explain the current proposal, saying that they’re only spreading wrong information and fear among netizens.

“Dear Ms. Curtis, UNICEF, Rappler and human rights groups, Despite your scaremongering to the contrary, No 12 year old or even 9 years old would be going to jail anytime soon, in the words of the President himself, ‘they would not be sent to prison, they would just be sent to so social workers for a lecture’,” he said.

While the first proposal of the congress is nine years old, President Rodrigo Duterte was more favored in the suggestion of the Senate to lower it to 12 years old only.

Because of the recent statements of the President, the congress now changed their proposal to 12 years old instead of nine.

 

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