Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, daughter Frankie, has a message to the Filipino supporters of George Floyd, an American who faced demise in the hands of a police officer.
In her tweet, Pangilinan said that while Filipinos are also mourning what happened to Floyd, they should also remember the rumored last words of the 17-year-old student Kian Delos Santos who lost his life during a police operation in Caloocan.
“While we remember George’s, “I can’t breathe,” let’s take a minute to remember kian’s ‘tama na po’,” Pangilinan tweeted.
“By a minute, I mean a lifetime. that’s what was taken from them both,” she added.
by a minute, i mean a lifetime. that’s what was taken from them both.
— kakie (@kakiep83) May 31, 2020
Pangilinan was referring to the testimony of a witness who claimed that he saw delos Santos together with the police.
“Tama na po! Tama na po! May test pa ako bukas!” delos Santos said according to the witness.
The post of Pangilinan received many reactions from the netizens, including political blogger Jan “Jan Writer” Suing.
Pangilinan and Suing clashed in a debate about juvenile law created by the former’s father.
Suing argued that the people behind what happened to Floyd were already punished, while the minors who allegedly committed something illegal in the Philippines were saved and never held liable for what they did because they benefited to ‘Pangilinan law.’
Pangilinan defended the law created by her father, saying that Juvenile Law ensure that minors are being punished accordingly to their age.
“Nothing was burned. the law, to those who actually know it, is about holding minors accountable in a manner and means appropriate for their age. it’s about assuring that children at risk and in conflict with the law are properly educated and fairly treated. sit down,” Pangilinan said.
“So in contrast to what you might have assumed, it’s not immunity, it’s about making sure minors are held accountable correctly. don’t make arguments based on your ignorance. read and adequately inform yourself before making assumptions and, therefore, a fool of yourself,” she added.
However, Suing said that first world countries like Australia have a lower age of criminal liability.
They also said that first world countries are doing it wrong for punishing minors for doing illegal activities.
“Again, far more developed countries. if you’re going to compare the suffering of a third world nation with all these areas where children are far less at risk, then you really are too blinded by your own convictions to have a heart or a clear mind. and again, yes, they are,” she said.
Frankie’s father, Senator Pangilinan received criticisms even from President Rodrigo Duterte himself from creating the juvenile justice law.
“The entire Philippines for the last two decades, right after the — itong Pangilinan law, nagkalat. Kasi alam ninyo, pagka-minor, he goes out. ‘Pag sinabi niya, ‘I am just 14 years old,’ he goes out. Walang seremonya,” the president said in one of his past speeches.
However, Sen. Pangilinan said that the government wrongly implemented the law he created.
According to him, the minors caught by the police would have to be transferred in a Bahay Pag-Asa or child-caring institutions for at least one year instead of freeing them or putting them to detention with older inmates.