Bill prohibiting child marriage passed by House on final reading

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to prohibit the practice of child marriage in the country.

Voting 197-0-2, the chamber approved House Bill 9943 or An Act Prohibiting The Practice Of Child Marriage And Imposing Penalties For Violations Thereof.

The proposed measure aims to raise awareness about the negative impact of child marriage.

Under the bill, child marriage is defined as the formal marriage between children under 18 years of age, or between an adult and a child, which is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one or both parties have not expressed full, free, and informed consent.

The bill also declares facilitation of child marriage, solemnization of child marriage, and cohabitation of an adult with a child outside wedlock as unlawful and prohibited acts.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, one of the principal authors of the bill, said the United Nations World Population Prospect ranks the Philippines as the 10th country with the highest absolute number of child marriages at 808,000 in 2019.

“The country’s adverse situation is due to the practice of child marriage by Filipino Muslims and indigenous peoples, in addition to co-habitations outside wedlock or illicit live-in unions involving adult men and young girls, which the bill now proscribes," Lagman said in a press statement.

Lagman cited the following reasons as "deleterious" effects of child marriage:

• It vitiates marital consent because either or both the child bride or groom are underage to give valid consent;
• It violates the human rights of children under international conventions and domestic laws;
• It compromises the child bride’s maternal health and her infant’s health and development outcomes;
• It exposes the child bride to economic vulnerabilities as she is deprived of completing her education, attaining adequate work skills, and securing remunerative employment; and
• It perpetuates intergenerational poverty.

The bill punishes any person who causes, fixes, facilitates, or arranges a child marriage with the penalty of prision mayor in its medium period or a fine of not less than P40,000; provided, however, that should the perpetrator be an ascendant, parent, adoptive parent, step-parent, or guardian of the child, the penalty shall be prision mayor in its maximum period, a fine not less than P50,000, and perpetual loss of parental authority.

It also penalizes an individual who officiates the child marriage with prision mayor in its maximum period, and a fine not less than P50,000. Further, the officiator may be penalized with perpetual disqualification from office if the person is a public officer.

This also sanctions an adult partner who cohabits with a child outside wedlock to suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its maximum period, and a fine not less than P50,000 as well as perpetual disqualification from appointive or elective office. — DVM, GMA News