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This is Republic Act 9344,
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the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of
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2006. A law born out of compassion. Yes.
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To protect the young, to rehabilitate,
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but two decades later, it's a law with
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good intentions and devastating results.
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Because right now, it protects killers.
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It protects minors who can rob, rape,
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murder, and walk away claiming
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alam. Tell that to Sophia Marie Kilia,
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19 years old, an honor student, a
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daughter, a future in bloom, stabbed 38
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times inside her own bedroom while her
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parents slept in the next room.
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minors not in jail, not even called
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criminals. Instead, they are children in
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conflict with the law, rehabilitated,
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protected, sheltered. And it gets worse.
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Republic Act 9344 has become the legal
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weapon of syndicates. Gangs now recruit
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children to carry drugs, to snatch bags,
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to kill because they know the loophole.
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The lawn is now a shield for
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and a magnet for manipulation.
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Where's the justice in that? If a child
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is old enough to choose crime, old
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enough to wield the knife, then the law
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must be old enough to face reality. We
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are not saying children cannot change.
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But when a minor destroys a life, the
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law must not just coddle, it must
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protect the rest of us. Reform RA9344,
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not to punish the young, but to stop the
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evil hiding behind them.
