Senator Leila de Lima
A 12-year-old cannot knowledgeably consent to sex, according to Senator Leila de Lima.
For this reason, she has filed a bill to raise the age of sexual consent from 12 to 18 years old, in order to protect the youth from rape and sexual predators.
In her bill, De Lima said it was necessary to look into the realities faced by a 12-year-old in the country.
At this age, a child has barely gone through puberty and hardly knows about sexual intercourse because there is no sex education in schools.
They are also not allowed to get condoms and other forms of contraception, she noted.
Immature, unstable
A 12-year-old, De Lima said, has yet to develop physical, psychological and emotional maturity and stability.
“Allowing our children at the tender age of 12 years old to decide on their own whether the time is proper to engage in sexual intercourse will be like abandoning them blindfolded in a tunnel of mazes,” she added in her explanatory note.
According to De Lima, the Philippines has one of the lowest ages of consent, next to Nigeria which as of 2015 was 11. In most countries, the average age of consent is between 16 and 18 years old.
Her bill seeks to amend the Revised Penal Code to state that rape is committed when the woman is under 18 years old. De Lima said this would protect the youth’s innocence.