The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) expressed its support to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri’s bill raising the statutory rape age to 16 years old in the Philippines Thursday.
Currently, the statutory rape age in the Philippines is only 12 years old.
POPCOM chief Juan Antonio Perez III noted during the Senate budget hearing for 2021 that the teenage pregnancy for 10 to 14 years old in the country is increasing.
Perez stressed that older men impregnated most teenage mothers in the Philippines.
“There’s an element of power play or exploitation here because it’s older men who are the partners of these young [women]. The proposal of Senator Zubiri to bring up the age of consent to 16 or 18 would at least scare off these predators,” he said.
POPCOM backs raising statutory rape age to 16 years old
“The debate is whether 16 or 18, but we are definitely going to try to push the minimum age to no less than 16 years old,” Zubiri said.
Perez further explained that some families with teenage mothers usually get disqualified from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for dropping out of school because of pregnancy.
In August, the House panels on the welfare of children and revision of laws approved Thursday a bill aiming to raise the age of sexual consent in the Philippines to 16 years old.
The proposed bill states that consensual, non-abusive, and non-exploitative sexual activity with a minor below 16 years old would not be considered statutory rape in the following conditions are met:
- The parties are 14 years old or above, and the age difference does not exceed 4 years
- Where the sexual activity involves a minor below 14, the age difference does not exceed 3 years