To protect minors from sexual exploitation and abuse, Senator Leila de Lima has filed Senate Bill No. 1949 which aims to peg the age of sexual consent from the current 12 years to 18 years.

“In increasing the age of consent to 18 years old, the State is sending a message – loud and clear – the youth will be protected by all means and at all costs,” De Lima said in a statement on Thursday.

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“It is vital to delineate childhood from adulthood, and to take a second look at the choices we allow our children, despite the scarcity of their experience and wisdom to independently take,” she added.

According to De Lima, who currently works from her detention cell due to drug-related charges, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is alarmed with the Philippines’ age of sexual consent as it is one of the lowest worldwide, and is the lowest in the region.

In a June 2015 report entitled “Analysis of Domestic Laws related to Violence against Children”, UNICEF advised lawmakers to raise the age of sexual consent to 16 years old.

“Consider raising the age of consent to 16 years for sexual activity occurring between young people under 16 years and adults or persons more than five years older. Consider expanding the definition of sexual acts that are criminalized below the age of consent,” the report said.

Currently, rape is committed if a victim is under 12 years or is suffering from mental illness, according to R.A. 8353 or the 1997 Anti-Rape Law.

Under the law, persons having sexual relations with minors below 18 years would only be penalized if it was done with force, threat, or intimidation.

“In putting the age of consent on the same level as that of the age of majority, the State would safeguard the innocence of the youth, prevent sexual predators from deflowering our children, and finally put premium on the virtue of the hope of this nation,” De Lima explained.

She also pointed out that the enactment of her proposal is necessary, as a 12-year old child, who is given a choice to engage in a sexual act under the law, is merely a Grade 6 student who has barely gone through puberty, much less buying contraceptives which will protect them from early pregnancies.

“It is imperative that we look into the realities that surround the Filipino youth,” De Lima said.

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“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,” she added. /muf

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