Tacloban School Shooting Prompts Review of Juvenile Justice Rules for Minors

A June 22 shooting at a school in Tacloban City left three people dead and 11 injured. The two individuals identified by police are a 15-year-old Grade 9 student and a 14-year-old Grade 10 student. Section 6 states that a child 15 years old or below who commits a crime is exempt from criminal liability, which normally includes imprisonment or fines.

Exemption from criminal liability does not remove all consequences. Section 20 requires the child to enter a community-based intervention program supervised by the local social welfare and development officer, or placement in a youth care facility or Bahay Pag-asa when that serves the child's best interest.

For minors above 12 but below 15 who commit grave offenses such as murder, the same law mandates placement in an Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center inside a youth care facility. Children aged 15 to 17 are generally exempt unless authorities determine they acted with discernment.

The Supreme Court defined discernment in 2024 as the capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong and the consequences of the act. Social workers conduct the initial assessment using guidelines approved by the court.

If diversion applies, the process differs by penalty length. When the penalty is six years or less, mediation or family conferencing occurs at the barangay level. When the penalty exceeds six years, only a court may order diversion. In the Tacloban case, the Department of the Interior and Local Government stated the 14-year-old will enter an intervention program while the 15-year-old, found to have acted with discernment, will face murder and frustrated murder charges.