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On Monday, the Senate passed a bill on the third and final reading declaring child marriage a public crime.
On a 21-0 vote, senators passed Senate Bill (SB) 1373, written and sponsored primarily by Senator Ana Theresia Hontiveros, which outlaws and outlaws child marriage.
In the Philippines, there are an estimated 726,000 girl brides, making the country the twelfth highest in the world in terms of absolute numbers.
A 2019 Oxfam survey of reproductive health services in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) showed that 253 or 24 percent of the 1,058 respondents from the Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basulta regions (Basilan , Sulu and Tawi) -Tawi) were cases of child marriage, and 97 percent of them involved girls.
“Today we give our girls the opportunity to dream, the opportunity to define their future on their own terms, we defend their right to declare when they are ready to start a family,” said Hontiveros after the approval of the bill.
He cited the United Nations Fund report that shows that 750 million women and girls today were married before their 18th birthday. Of the figure, two percent were married even before their 15th birthday.
Under SB 1373, anyone who causes, arranges, facilitates, or arranges a child marriage will be fined P40,000 or face imprisonment for six years.
However, if the perpetrator is an ascendant, stepfather or guardian of the minor, the penalty imposed should be 12 years in prison, a fine of 50,000 pesos and the loss of parental authority over the minor.
Any person who officiates child marriage will be punished with at least eight years in prison and a fine of 40,000 pesos, in addition to perpetual disqualification from the position if he is a public official.
“Conscious of existing cultural practices, the bill introduces a culturally appropriate program and services that will respond to the needs of those who will be affected by this law,” said Hontiveros.
While poverty may be one of the reasons for child marriages, she said a more subtle drive behind the practice could be attributed to social norms in communities where entrenched gender inequality is common.
“This gender inequality plays a key role in causing girls to be disproportionately affected by this cultural practice,” said Hontiveros, president of the Senate Committee on Relations with Children, Women and Family.
“Girls are falsely seen as contributing less to the household and expected to eventually leave to join her husband’s family, making them of less value than boys,” she said.
The bill was also written by the president of the Senate, Vicente Sotto 3, the majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the minority leader Franklin Drilon and the senators Leila de Lima, Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, María Josefa Imelda Marcos, Juan Edgardo Angara and Francis Pangilinan.
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