Philippines raises age of consent from 12 to 16

Philippines raises age of consent from 12 to 16

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill that raises the age of consent from 12 to 16 years old in a move aimed at protecting minors from sexual abuse and rape.

According to the gender-neutral bill, any adult having sex with anyone under 16 years old would be guilty of statutory rape.

Statutory rape automatically makes the offender guilty by reason of the victim’s age, which makes them incapable of giving consent.

“By raising the age to 16, it means those below 16 years of age are not yet capable of giving their consent when they have sex. Thus, the presumption is that the child is raped,” lawyer Wesley Young told UCA News.

He said many rape victims in the Philippines were children in the 12-16 age bracket.

In 2020, the Philippine National Police said there were 18 rape cases per day being reported, exacerbated by community quarantines caused by the pandemic.

Lawmaker Miguel Zubiri said passage of the bill was long overdue.

“I know this has been long awaited by many families and child rights advocates, and as a parent of three young kids myself I was really determined that we got this out for the president’s signature,” lawmaker Juan Miguel Zubiri told reporters on March 7.

“At 13 or 14, our kids cannot make informed decisions about sex yet, especially sex with adults, so this is a really important law that will protect our kids from malicious individuals who intend to take advantage of them.” 

Activists have been pushing for the age of consent to be raised for decades as sexual predators could either claim consent was given or easily coerce victims. They also said allowing sex at such a young age resulted in a high teenage pregnancy rate and encouraged the sex trafficking of young girls.  

Catholic women’s group Hope for the Lord also welcomed the move.

“We know our government leaders are very busy with the elections. But we thank them because they still passed a law which we think is very important in protecting women and children’s rights,” group leader Catherine Diwa told UCA News.

She also said the law gave more teeth to enforcers to prosecute those who were guilty of rape by imposing life imprisonment as a punishment.

“With this law, we will be definitively drawing a line that adults cannot cross. They cannot say a kid below 16 gave them consent. That is statutory rape, plain and simple. And victims and their families will no longer have to prove that they were coerced. The onus will fall completely on the perpetrator,” Diwa added.