Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) commends the Filipino Senate for unanimously voting in favor of Senate Bill No. 1373 or the “Girls Not Brides Act,” which declares child marriage illegal.
According to UNICEF, the Philippines has the 12th highest absolute number of child brides in the world at 726,000. An estimated 15% of Filipina girls are married before the age of 18.
The principal author and sponsor of the bill is Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality. The co-authors include Senator Leila de Lima, who is a PGA member and has managed to support this initiative despite having been arrested and detained on politically motivated charges since February 2017.
Girls are not playthings, they are not frail little creatures that society can subdue, control and train to be just “little wives” – who will say yes even if it hurts, even if she does not know what she is saying yes to, even if she is too young to understand that the veil above her head has become a shackle that will break her before she breaks it.
Child marriage has no place in a civilized world. Girls must be educated; they must be allowed to play and learn and enjoy life. We are duty-bound by the Constitution and international treaties to not only protect and uphold their rights, but to also raise girls into strong women whose consent will have to be obtained before anything could be demanded from them, whose destinies they will pursue according to their personal sovereignties.
I fully support this measure, with a hope and prayer that this will spark the most needed change – so we can raise women who are measured not by the size of their pelvic bone but by the weight of their mind and the strength of their spirit, women who will be so strong and independent they will no longer allow chauvinism to thrive, women who will fight for themselves and for others for their seats on the table.
Leila de Lima
Senator from the Philippines and PGA Member
Under the bill, marriage is prohibited between minors – persons below 18 years old – as well as between a minor and an adult. Any person who causes, fixes, facilitates or arranges a child marriage shall be fined at least P40,000 ($830) and face a prison sentence between 8 years and a day and 10 years.
Should the perpetrator of the child marriage be an ascendant or authority figure such as a parent, step-parent or guardian of the minor, the punishment will be prison from 10 years and a day up to 12 years, a fine of at least P50,000 ($1035) and loss of parental authority over the victim. Those who officiate or perform the marriage rite involving a minor will also suffer the penalty of prison between 8 years and a day and 10 years, a fine of at least P40,000 ($830) as well as disqualification from office if they are public officials.
The bill also states that any child marriage is considered void from the start, without any need for annulment. The Department of Social Welfare and Development has been enlisted to lead in implementing the measure.
The passing of this bill will bring the Philippines in line with its commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the country is a State party, and target 5.3 on ending harmful practices such as ending child, early and forced marriages by 2030, under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Achieving Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls. The country is setting an important example for its neighbors in the Southeast Asian region where cases of child marriage continue to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is worth noting that a counterpart measure, House Bill No. 8440, is still pending at the House of Representatives. It will take the passage of the House bill and concurrence of the President to enact the bill into law. PGA will continue to monitor the legislative progress and support this initiative in the Philippines.
For more information, please contact:
Eva Hong
E: eva.hong@pgaction.org
Mónica Adame
E: monica.adame@pgaction.org
