PopCom celebrates law criminalizing child marriage

MANILA, Philippines — The enactment of a law that criminalizes the union of an adult with a minor was lauded over the weekend by the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom).

The PopCom, which has long advocated for stronger protection of Filipino children, also commended President Duterte for the recent signing of Republic Act 11596 (An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage) into law.

Through RA 11596, the Commission said it believes Filipino children will now be better protected from abuse and exploitation, “enabling them to achieve their aspirations and potential as future leaders of our nation.”

During a meeting on the State of the World Population in 2019, the PopCom acknowledged that Filipino girls in particular have become victims of unplanned and unintended pregnancies due to abuse, early marriage and cohabitation with adult males, all of which may be deterred by this new law.

Former socioeconomic planning secretary Ernesto Pernia, chair of PopCom’s board of commissioners, had declared teenage pregnancy as a “national social emergency” in that same year.

“We have likewise noted that marriages and unions involving minor children diminish the bodily autonomy of girls, and are incompatible with basic human rights as enshrined in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the Philippines signed in 1948,” said Undersecretary Juan Perez III, PopCom executive director.

Perez cited how marrying off minors exposes them to further unintended pregnancies, leads them to produce families and unions that are ill-prepared to face the challenges of rearing children, and locks them into the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty.

He said RA 11596 is a strategic policy measure supportive of the Social Protection Program for Adolescent Mothers and their Children (SPPAMC).

The SPPAMC is a program which the PopCom and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are mandated to develop and implement under the 2021 and 2022 General Appropriations Act.

It is now being implemented on a pilot basis to protect adolescent mothers from the risks and vulnerabilities of early pregnancies.