The horrific shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban, which tragically claimed the lives of three students and wounded twenty others, has exposed a familiar pattern of reactionary governing. Rather than pausing to dissect the multi-layered failures that led to this tragedy — such as how lethal firearms were so easily accessed by minors or the unchecked culture of bullying — lawmakers and officials immediately rushed to push for draconian legislative quick-fixes.
Lawmakers Push for Lower Age of Criminal Responsibility
Clamoring for a lower age of criminal responsibility and demanding immediate changes to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act treats a deeply rooted social and psychological breakdown as a mere legal loophole to be closed by locking up younger children. This impulse to over-legislate and heavily securitize our schools ignores the true foundation of youth violence.
Human Rights Commission Warns Against Militarization
As highlighted by the Commission on Human Rights, transforming places of learning into heavily policed, militarized zones will not heal a child's broken conscience. True intervention cannot be solved at the tail-end by a courtroom or a prison cell; it must begin at the root within the home and the community.
Root Causes Ignored
By treating a crisis of values and unaddressed mental trauma purely as a failure of criminal law, the government is simply trying to patch a collapsing foundation with heavier handcuffs, entirely missing the target of meaningful reform.
