Senate bill declaring child marriage as illegal hurdles 2nd reading

MANILA, Philippines — A bill prohibiting and declaring child marriage as illegal was approved on second reading at the Senate on Monday.

Under Senate Bill No. 1373, which is sponsored by Senator Risa Hontiveros, child marriage would be considered as a “public crime.”

The bill defines child marriage as “any marriage entered into where one or both parties are children as defined in the paragraph above, and solemnized in civil or church proceedings, or in any recognized traditional, cultural or customary manner.”

The Philippines has the 12th highest number of child brides at 726,000, Hontiveros earlier said.

If enacted into law, a person who causes, fixes, facilitates, or arranges a child marriage shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its medium period and a fine of not less than P40,000.

Should the perpetrator be an ascendant, step-parent, or guardian of the minor, the penalty will constitute a 12-year jail time, a fine of not less than P50,000 and the loss of parental authority over the same.

Meanwhile, individuals who perform or officiate the formal rites of child marriage shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its medium period and a fine of not less than P40,000. If they are public officers, they will also be perpetually disqualified from office.

The second reading approval of the bill comes a day after the International Day of the Girl Child.

“It’s a very happy bill. It coincides with our move to curb child pregnancies and to bring up the age of consent to 16,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said. “This is good for our children.”

Zubiri, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senators Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Francis Pangilinan and Joel Villanueva were made co-authors of the bill. [ac]