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It’s about time the outdated law got repealed.
“President Noynoy Aquino has signed into law Republic Act 10655 decriminalizing ‘premature marriage’ as contained in the Revised Penal Code,” reports Aurea Calica in The Philippine Star.
Under the old law, a “premature marriage” was when a widow “remarried within 301 days from the date of death of her husband, or before having delivered if she shall have been pregnant at the time of her husband’s death.” The old law penalized widows who went for these “premature marriages” with arresto mayor (1 month and 1 day to 6 months in prison) and a fine not exceeding PHP500.
The report noted: “Lawmakers said the old law was discriminating to women and no longer served a purpose, which was supposedly to avoid confusion on paternity and filiation of a child who might have been conceived during the previous marriage but born during the subsequent marriage.”
Photo: MorgueFile
