House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and the Chairperson for the Committee on the Welfare of Children, Yedda Romualdez, who are parents to four children, lead the campaign for the protection of Filipino children. Wearing shirts that say #EndChildRape, the couple advocates for the increase of the age to determine statutory rape.
While the Philippine government has had numerous gains in child protection legislation, 1 in 5 Filipino children aged 13 to below 18 continues to experience sexual violence, according to the National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children, a 2015 government study.
They agree that one large gap that needs to be addressed is the age to determine statutory rape, which is at 12 years old. This means that, according to the law, an adult can have sex with a 12-year-old and claim it was consensual.
“Twelve years old is too low. A 12-year-old has barely gone through puberty but the law assumes that they are old enough to give sexual consent. This is why rapists can easily get away with their crimes. We must put a stop to this,” says Rep. Yedda Romualdez.
Majority Leader Martin Romualdez also opens the issue of unequal protection for boys and girls, “When a boy is raped, the law sees it only as sexual assault. This has a much lesser penalty. This is unfair especially when data suggests that boys are more vulnerable than girls in school, the community, and in the workplace. Kailangan pantay-pantay.”
They both agree that delivery of justice and care for victims have yet to be improved, and increasing the age to determine statutory rape is definitely a big step in the right direction. As Hon. Yedda Romueldez says, “We call on our fellow parents in Congress to stand with us in pushing reforms that protect our children. We must protect the most vulnerable. We must end child rape now!”