VOTING 22-0-1, with one abstention, the Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 2332 on third and final reading on Sept. 27. Child rights advocates all over the Philippines are beyond elated with this development. Truly, despite the grim situation we are facing amid the ravaging pandemic, we see a shining beacon of hope. The passage of the End Child Rape Bill is a monumental move that expands the Philippines’ legal mantle of protection for children. It not only makes it easier for child rape victims to access justice but at the same time nurtures a safer environment where children have stronger protection against sexual violence.
Children get victimized by perpetrators who hide under the gaps of our extant laws, precarious situations that even get close to home. The End Child Rape Bill amends pertinent provisions of Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, which sets the age to determine the crime of statutory rape – or the crime that involves sexual contact with a child below the age of 12. In the anticipated law, the age will be raised to below 16 years, which is currently the global standard.
What is now left is for a bicameral conference committee to convene, with representatives from both houses of Congress sitting to reconcile any diverging provision that may be present between the Senate version and its counterpart bill. House Bill 7836 was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives back in December 2020.
The passage of the End Child Rape Bill did not come without challenges. It took years for advocates to push for the bill in the legislative mill successfully. It took herculean efforts of campaigning for groups and experts to push Congress to prioritize ending child rape, an issue that for decades was generally overlooked or was even ignored at some point. Public advocacy played a crucial role all throughout the process.
With the passage of the End Child Rape Bill, the future where no child is forced to undergo the harrowing experience of testifying in court how they were raped is no longer a distant dream, but on the verge of becoming reality. For statutory rape, only two things need to be proved: the child’s age and that the sexual act happened.
Both houses of Congress’ move to pass the End Child Rape Bill aligns with the Philippines’ obligation to enact measures to protect children against violence as a State party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. With the passage of the bill, Congress has proven that it treats the interest and the welfare of Filipino children with great importance and that one of the best approaches in legislation is to put children at the heart of the law.
