Zubiri pushes bill raising statutory rape age from 12 to 16

Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri co-sponsored on Wednesday Senate Bill 2332, which amends the Revised Penal Code to raise the age of sexual consent from the current 12 years old to 16 years old.

The bill also amends the language of the law to reflect that rape is committed “by a person against any person,” instead of the previous “by a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman.”

In his co-sponsorship speech, Zubiri brought up the 2019 story of a male Grade 7 student at a Laguna high school who was shot dead by a security guard against whom the victim had filed sexual abuse complaints.

The incident was the catalyst for Zubiri to file Senate Bill 305, now contained in the committee report along with similar bills filed by seven other senators.

“Talaga naman pong kukulo ang dugo mo pag nakita o nabasa mo ang mga ganitong pangyayari,” Zubiri said. “Bilang magulang, hindi ko po maisip kung ano ang maaari kong magawa sa perpetrator kung mangyari sa aking anak yan.”

“The Philippines has the lowest age of consent for sexual acts among the countries in Asia, and one of the lowest in the world at 12 years old, only bested by Niger at age 11,” Zubiri said.

He also cited World Bank data showing that the Philippines has 47 births annually per 1,000 young women aged 15 to 19, higher than the average adolescent birth rates of 44 per 1,000 young women globally, and 33 in the Asean region.

“Parang normal na lang na makakita ka ng mga batang ina, mga teenager na may hawak na bata na aakalain mo kapatid ang inaalagaan pero anak na pala nila,” he said. “Yung imbis na naglalaro, nag-aaral, o nangangarap sa kanilang kinabukasan, eh ayan at nag-aalaga na ng sarili nilang anak sa edad na 14 o 15.”

“As legislators, we need to ensure that our youth are protected and that we set measures that will mitigate, if not totally eradicate, these alarming statistics on sexual violence against children.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)