A bill filed by jailed Senator Leila de Lima is seeking to raise the age of sexual consent in the Philippines from 12 years old to 18, according to a statement she released yesterday.
Yes, 12 is the age of consent in the country. Persons can only be prosecuted for statutory rape in the country if they have sex with a child below 12 years old. It’s a horrifying discovery for many, considering that the country is supposedly a conservative one.
However, this is not the first time that a lawmaker has sought to amend the age of consent. According to an ABS-CBN column by lawyer Katrina Legarda, congressperson Nikki Prieto-Teodoro filed a bill in 2007 seeking to increase it to 16 years old. Needless to say, nothing has changed.
In her statement, De Lima said: “It is vital to delineate childhood from adulthood. Take a second look at the choices we allow our children, despite the scarcity of their experience and wisdom to independently take … 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 would be like abandoning them blindfold in a tunnel of mazes.”
According to UNICEF, the Philippines has one of the lowest ages of sexual consent in the world because globally, the average is 16 years old.
To be fair, even the government has already highlighted the issue to Congress. One agency, the National Youth Commission, told Congress in August 2017 to prioritize the amendment of the law when a priest allegedly brought a 13-year-old girl to a motel in Marikina.
De Lima, a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, was jailed in 2017 at Camp Crame for allegedly extorting money from inmates of the New Bilibid Prisons when she was the country’s secretary of Justice.
The inmates were allegedly linked to the drug trade and the money was allegedly used to fund De Lima’s senatorial campaign.
However, in May, GMA News reported that she was recognized by Amnesty International Philippines as the country’s most distinguished human rights defender. In the past, she has also authored other bills that promote women’s rights.
Do you think it’s high time to amend the law? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
