Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law forbidding child marriages in the Philippines, imposing stiff penalties on those perpetrating related activities.
“The State affirms that marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of capacitated parties, and child betrothal and marriage shall have no legal effect,” stated Republic Act No. 11596, which was signed last December 10 but released to the media only this Thursday.
The law defines a child as any person below 18, or older but is unable to fully take care and protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of certain physical or mental condition.
A child marriage, meanwhile, involves one or both children “solemnized in civil or church proceedings, or in any recognized traditional, cultural or customary manner.” It also covers an informal union or cohabitation outside of wedlock between an adult and a child, or between children.
RA 11596 deems unlawful and prohibited the facilitation and solemnization of child marriages, along with the cohabitation of an adult with a child outside of matrimony.
Anyone found to have caused, fixed, facilitated or arranged a child marriage will be fined at least ₱40,000 and suffer the penalty of prison time which lasts from four years and two months to eight years and a day according to the Revised Penal Code.
Harsher penalties are slapped on offenders if they’re ascendants, guardians, or parents of the child — including adoptive and step parents. In such case, they will be fined at least ₱50,000, and jailed from 10 years and one month to 12 years; as well as perpetually lose their parental authority over the child/children.
Individuals who produce, print, issue and/or distribute fraudulent or tampered documents like birth and/or foundling certificates to misrepresent a child’s age or evade liability from this law will also be held liable without prejudice to other laws.
Meanwhile, persons found to have performed or officiated a child marriage will face incarceration with a fine not lower than ₱50,000.
The same penalties apply to any adult found to have cohabited with a child.
If the perpetrator is a public official, RA 11596 says the individual must be dismissed from public service and at the discretion of the courts, be perpetually disqualified from holding office.
Acoording to the law, child marriages are void ab initio which means having no legal effect.
The Act also tasks the government with creating an “enabling environment where the practice of child marriage shall not thrive.”
The Department of Social and Welfare Development — the law’s lead implementing agency — must come up with culturally-appropriate and comprehensive programs in coordination with identified government agencies along with concerned civil society (CSOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs). This should be done and initiated by the department within six months of the law’s effectivity.
RA 11596 also instructs the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) to work closely with the DSWD in strengthening policies and creating programs against child marriage.
Other agencies instructed to implement the law are the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of the Interior and the Local Government (DILG), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DOH) and the Supreme Court (SC).
Also included in this list are the Philippine Commission on Women, Commission on Human Rights (CHR), National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), and National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The DSWD must also coordinate with the DOH, DepEd, CWC, NCMF, and NCIP in the promulgation of the law’s rules and regulations within 60 days of its effectivity. Also belonging in this list is one representative each from CSOs to represent women, children, Muslim Filipinos, and indigenous peoples.
