Authorities Turn Over Minor to Rehabilitation Center; City Eyes Ordinance Penalizing Negligent Parents
MATI CITY — A 15-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing a rival rioter along the Coastal Road in Magsaysay, Barangay Central on Saturday afternoon was arrested later that night while drinking with companions at a local restobar, officials confirmed.
Barangay Central Kagawad Victor Rodriguez, chair of the Committee on Peace and Order, told local media that the minor was collared at around 7:40 p.m. in a restobar in Sto. Niño, Barangay Central. He was reportedly drinking with his half-sister and another male companion—just hours after the 5 p.m. stabbing incident that left one youth dead.
Rodriguez, who joined the hot pursuit operation together with personnel of the Mati City Police Station, said the teenage suspect was positively identified by two earlier-arrested members of the same rioting group.
Because the suspect is a minor, he cannot be detained under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. Police immediately turned him over to Kasanag Center in Dahican, where he will undergo rehabilitation and intervention programs aimed at reforming children in conflict with the law.
In a separate interview, Mati City Acting Mayor Ega Valera said the local council is now studying possible legislation that would penalize negligent parents whose failure to supervise their children results in involvement in gangs, riots, or other violent activities.
The fatal stabbing is the latest in a series of youth-related violence in the city, prompting calls for stricter community measures, parental accountability, and intensified anti-riot interventions.