THIRTY-FOUR members of the House of Representatives voted against the bill lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old from the current 15 years old.
The list includes Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, widow of the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos and a known ally of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The 33 other lawmakers who voted no to House Bill 8858, according to the journal of the January 28 plenary session are as follows:
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao earlier criticized the Duterte administration for allowing children to be jailed while setting free the allies of the administration who have been convicted of a crime, among them Imelda Marcos
"We should never forget that the police chose not to arrest former first lady Imelda Marcos, citing her old age, though it was ordered by the Sandiganbayan for being convicted with seven counts of graft, but is now pushing for criminalization of children, we should be by now sensing not just the irrationality of this proposal, but also its prejudice or bias toward those who are or close to those in power," said Casilao in a statement on January 22.
In November last year, the Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Imelda after the court found her guilty of seven counts of graft over her supposed participation in the creation of private organizations in Switzerland while she was Minister of Human Settlements and member of the Congress.
Imelda, who was sentenced to imprisonment from six years to 11 years for each count of graft, remains free after the Sandiganbayan allowed her to post bail while it decides on her pleadings challenging the anti-graft court's decision. (VoxPop Philippines)
