Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday called on the Senate to fast track the approval of the measure that seeks to raise the age of sexual consent to give girls a fighting chance against unwanted pregnancy and rape.

Hontiveros noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought more serious social problems and among them is teenage pregnancy, which is now on the rise due to the movement restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the government in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

“Right now a 13 year old girl can be forced to have sex with her uncle, and she will need to prove that she did not consent. Our laws should protect the most innocent; but we’ve thrown thousands of Filipino girls to the wolves,” said Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children and Gender Equality.

“We are experiencing a teen pregnancy emergency, and it’s the Filipino girls of today who will head the families of tomorrow that will pay the heftiest price. Raising the age of consent is an urgent intervention,” the senator stressed.

Hontiveros is among the senators who filed a bill seeking to increase the age of sexual consent from 12 to 18 years old.

In filing Senate Bill No. 163, Hontiveros said raising the age of sexual consent to conform with the current legal age in the country will make all sexual acts with minors be treated as statutory rape, subject to the close-in-age exemption, in which sexual acts between consenting minors are exempted from the law.

Citing a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study, the senator warned that the country could slide economically and health-wise, if the government allows teen pregnancy cases to escalate.

“Every 53 minutes, a woman or child gets raped, and their perpetrators get away with the crime because of a lapse in the law that can and must immediately be corrected,” she said.

Hontiveros also noted that the proposed budget for the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) for next year is almost 50 percent lower than they requested.

“New data shows that pandemics and economic stress on families puts girls at greater risk for violence. Let’s give the agencies what they need to address these rising issues,” she stressed.

“As a mother to three daughters, I take this personally, as we all should. We have become a hotspot for all sorts of violence. We have to give all our girls a fighting chance for a good life, if not, the consequences of our inaction will be felt for generations. Ipasa na natin itong batas at wag natin ito patagalin pa (Let’s pass this measure into law as soon as possible),” the lawmaker added.