The Child Rights Network (CRN) has lauded the passing of House Bill 7836 on third and final reading at the House of Representatives, and hopes that the new bill will pass before Christmas.
The bill will increase the age of determination of statutory rape from below 12 to below 16. It likewise provides a wider scope of protection against child rape, sexual exploitation, and abuse.
The next step for the bill, according to CRN, is for it to find the same success before the Senate as well.
"With the House of Representatives approving on third reading HB 7836, what is left is for Senate to pass its version of the proposed bill," the group said in a statement. "We hope that our esteemed senators study the proposed bill expeditiously, and internalize the voluminous studies, evidence-based reports, and community-level consultations that served as the basis for drafting the House version."
House Bill 7836 was created with the inputs of legislators, policymakers, child rights experts, and advocates. The House Committees on Revision of Laws and Welfare of Children has worked tirelessly to ensure that essential provisions were included in the bill, such as the equal protection for victims of rape, regardless of their gender.
They also included "close-in-age exemption" for consensual, non-abusive, and non-exploitative sexual relations between partners whose age difference is minor.
At the same time, they removed the forgiveness exemption if the rapist marries the victim. The bill also adopted the “close in age exemption,” which serves to reduce or eliminate the penalty of the crime in cases where the couple's age difference is minor.
CRN said that the bill will end the archaic views of the country in determining statutory rape. Before House Bill 7836 was crafted, the age to determine statutory rape in the country was the lowest in Asia. In fact, it is the lowest in the world at 12, only topped by Nigeria with age 11.
"We hope that before Christmas, HB 7836 can be passed and signed into law, and thus serve as a lasting Christmas gift to future generations of Filipino children," the group said.