It looks like current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wants to leave something behind before leaving his seat. On March 4, 2022, he signed a law raising the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16. This is an important step in protecting minors from rape and other sexual abuse.
Republic Act 11648 provides additional protection for minors 16 years of age and younger from the following sex-related crimes: qualified seduction, child prostitution and other sexual abuse, child trafficking, and forced employment of minors for obscene publications objects and indecent programming. Republic Act 8353 of 1997, also known as the Rape Act of 1997.
RA 11648 also provides for stricter protection of minors from “other acts of neglect, abuse, cruelty or exploitation that are detrimental to the development of the child”.
“In any public or private place, hotel, motel, brewery, discotheque, cabaret, nursing home, sauna, any person shall retain or possess in his company a minor 16 years of age or younger or younger Persons 10 years of age or older or massage parlours, beaches and/or other tourist or similar establishments will be punished with a maximum sentence by the warden and a fine of not less than P50,000,” reads part of the law.
However, the above does not apply to any person who is related by blood or kinship in the fourth degree, or any person who is “in any tie recognized by law, local custom and tradition, or in the performance of a social, moral or legal duty”.
RA 11648 comes into force 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
Save the Children Philippines applauds the enactment of Republic Act 11648, or Raise the Age of Consent Act, raising the legal age of rape from 12 to 16. This recognizes the child’s right and need to be protected from sexual abuse and exploitation.
According to the country’s National Baseline Study on Violence against Children (Child Welfare Council, 2016), 1 in 4 Filipino children has experienced some form of sexual violence, with children aged 13 to 17 experiencing sexual violence most. According to the Philippine Women’s Commission, most rape victims are children between the ages of 13 and 15. By raising the age of sexual consent, we are casting a wider net to protect more children from sexual abuse and exploitation, especially adults.
With the passage of this law, the Philippines, as a party, complied with the recommendations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on raising the age of sexual consent, thus addressing the 1997 Anti-Rape Act “Limitations in Addressing Statutory Rape.
However, Save the Children acknowledges that the passage of the law is only the beginning of a stronger advocacy for protecting children from all forms of violence.
We call on the Philippine government to strengthen the enforcement of all child protection-related laws and policies, especially at the community level. If this happens, this will help ensure that violence against children is prevented and properly addressed.
This starts by ensuring that all local government officials and other stakeholders are aware of these laws and policies, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing them, so that they can meet their obligations to protect all children in the community.
These laws and policies should also be translated into actual child protection-related plans, projects and activities and incorporated into local development plans and budgets. These should include, inter alia, investments in prevention activities, ready and accessible services, and adequate and competent human resources to deliver services.
Save the Children Philippines CEO, Atty. Alberto Muyot said: “As we celebrate the enactment of RA 11648, we ask families and communities to remain vigilant and continue to work together to protect children from all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.”
