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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Wala nang future?': Kiko Barzaga says minors who commit rape should be executed

'Wala nang future?': Kiko Barzaga says minors who commit rape should be executed

Published Aug 16, 2025 01:03 pm

At A Glance

  • Cavite 4th district Rep. Francis "Kiko" Barzaga has chimed in--although indirectly--on the juvenile justice issue, which is beginning to snowball in the 20th Congress.
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francis "Kiko" Barzaga (Facebook)
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francis "Kiko" Barzaga (Facebook)


Cavite 4th district Rep. Francis "Kiko" Barzaga has chimed in--although indirectly--on the juvenile justice issue, which is beginning to snowball in the 20th Congress.
Barzaga did so with his flair for provocative and head-turning comments on social media.
"Rapists, including minors, must be given the death penalty...If you're still aminor and you're already sexually abusing people, there's no future for you in our society," the rookie solon from Dasmariñas City wrote on his Facebook Saturday, Aug. 15.
This was the latest in Barzaga's continuing commentary on which kind of offenders deserve capital punishment, or the death penalty.
It has been 19 years since the Philippine government abolished the death penalty. But there have always been proponents in Congress asking for its return.
Barzaga's remarks were made in the periphery on suppsoed shortcomings of Republic Act (RA) No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
Senator Robinhood "Robin" Padilla has even filed a bill to remove liability exemptions for offenders aged 10 to 17 who commit heinous crimes. In effect, the bill would lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 10, which is typically the age of a grade 4 or 5 pupil.
The existing law provides for the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15.
Barzaga, the self-proclaimed "congressmeow", had earlier proposed that death penalty should be given to recidivist litterers and perpetrators of animal cruelty.
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