There have been known cases of child marriages in the Philippines which are considered as a form of child abuse and violation of their rights. For some religions and cultures, it is a common practice. Consequently, it is considered a public crime. With that, Republic Act 11596 or the Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage Act has been implemented1.
The act predominantly aims to prohibit the alarming practice of child marriage, and to also impose necessary penalties for such act. This ultimately protects children’s rights, their health, and their welfare. Furthermore, this also targets to eliminate discrimination, abuse, the exploitation of children, and to also recognize their role in nation-building.
Child Marriage
By definition, a child is any person under eighteen (18) years old, or any individual over 18 who is unfit to take care and protect themself due to their disability or condition. Child marriage is definied as the marital union made with a child through either informal or formal unions, this includes cohabitation. In the Philippines, the approximate recorded cases for child marriage are 808,000. Legally, any marriage with a child is considered void ab initio or void from the beginning, therefore, this type of marriage has no legal effect.
Prohibited Acts
The act explicitly states the prohibited acts under a child marriage. Facilitation of such marriage is not permissible, and this includes causing, fixing, and arranging a marriage with any child. Furthermore, this also includes the manipulating and producing of fake documents to misinterpret a child’s age. This is done to misrepresent the child’s age to evade legal liability in causing and arranging a child marriage. In relation to this, it is also prohibited for any official to solemnize child marriages. Article 7 of the Family Code provides that officiants can be religious leaders, judiciary members, ship captains, military commanders, consuls and the like. In addition, despite not entering into a formal union just yet, the act also includes cohabitation of an adult with a child outside of wedlock.
Legal Consequences
Penalities for child marriage cases may be through imprisonment (prision mayor), a fine ranging from Php 40,000 to Php 50,000, a perpetual loss of parental authority, and perpetual disqualification from office for officiants. Those who can be penalized under this act are parents, guardians, and public officials who solemnized the marriage.
Impacts
The engagement in child marriages brings about several impacts on children and their society. The younger they are, the heavier are the effects. This has heavy consequences on education and poverty of young girls. Since they are forced into building a family at a young age, they are compelled to stop their education and focus on their family. As a result, this reduces their employability. Instead of joining the workforce to have economic gains, they are forced to start a family that they may not afford to have.
Child marriage also has alarming effects on the child’s health. Children in child marriages may experience high risk pregnancy due to their young age, and since they are young, they are more susceptible to having more children and frequently be pregnant. As a result, this causes a high mortality rate. Lastly, since children are married to adults, they are more prone to violence as they are susceptible to physical, sexual, and emotional violence.
- An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof, Republic Act No. 11596 (2021) ↩︎
