CHAPTER VI
DETERMINATION OF AGE
Section 30. MINIMUM AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY. A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of Republic Act No. 9344.
A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with Republic Act No. 9344.
The exemption from criminal liability herein established does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be enforced in accordance with existing laws.
Section 31. DETERMINATION OF AGE. The child in conflict with the law shall enjoy the presumption of minority. He/She shall enjoy all the rights of a child in conflict with the law until he/she is proven to be eighteen (18) years old or older. The age of a child may be determined from the child’s birth certificate, baptismal certificate or any other pertinent documents. In the absence of these documents, age may be based on information from the child himself/herself, testimonies of other persons, the physical appearance of the child and other relevant evidence. In case of doubt as to the age of the child, it shall be resolved in his/her favor.
In all proceedings, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and other government officials concerned shall exert all efforts at determining the age of the child in conflict with the law.
In case of doubt as to the real age of the:
(a) person, the owners, proprietors, operators, possessors, managers, or administrators of bars, night clubs, restaurants, cafes, refreshments, convenient stores, computer or video establishments or places of similar nature, shall:
(b) buyer, the vendor/retailer of cigarettes or any tobacco products, liquor/intoxicating drinks and/or rugby or solvents, shall:
(c) customer who wishes to buy rugby or solvent at their stores, the owners, operators, sales clerks, employees / representative of the concerned establishment, shall:
verify, by means of any valid form of identification paper containing both the photograph and the date of birth of the bearer, such as, but not limited to valid school identification card, passport, driver’s license, Social Security System identification card, postal identification card and the like, that the person is at least eighteen (18) years old.
Section 32. IGNORANCE OF REAL AGE OF MINOR NOT A DEFENSE.
(a) As applied in Articles 1, 3 and 5, Chapter V of this Code. It shall not be a defense for the owners, proprietors, operators, possessors, managers, or administrators of bars, night clubs, resorts, restaurants, cafes, refreshments, convenient stores, computer or video establishments or places of similar in nature, that he/she did not know or was not aware of a real age of the minor who stayed in their business establishment beyond 10:00 P.M.
(b) As applied to Article 2, Chapter V of this Code. Likewise, it shall not be a defense for the person selling, distributing or purchasing cigarettes or any tobacco products, rugby or solvent and/or liquor/intoxicating drinks that he/she did not know or was not aware of a real age of the minor to whom said cigarettes or any tobacco products, rugby or solvent and/or liquor/intoxicating drinks was sold or distributed, or from whom they were purchased, as the case may be. Neither shall it be a defense that he/she did not know nor had any reason to believe that the cigarette or any tobacco product, rugby or solvent and/or liquor/intoxicating drinks was for the consumption of the minor to whom it was sold.