Child rights advocates launch petition to end child marriage in PH

A MULTI-SECTORAL coalition of children and women’s rights advocates and organizations, including children and youth organizations in Bangsamoro, are jumpstarting a nationwide signature campaign to end child marriage in the Philippines, urging on Congress to pass a law that will repeal all other laws, decrees, executive orders, issuances, rules, and regulations that legally allow the practice of child marriage.

The online petition filed on Change.Org (www.change.org/endchildmarriageph) is spearheaded by the Child Rights Network (CRN), the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), Plan International Philippines, and the nationwide multi-sectoral coalition #GirlDefenders Alliance. It was initially signed by 100 organizations and coalitions, government agencies and officials, legislators, lawyers, health practitioners, personalities, artists, and advocates from civil society.

At the heart of the campaign are children and youth organizations in Bangsamoro, where child marriage remains prevalent. These groups include MAYA, a Maguindanao-based youth alliance against child marriage, and Linding Ko Kalombayan in Lanao del Sur.

“Today, we announce to the nation and the world that children and youth in Bangsamoro are standing up to say child marriage must stop. We need to change harmful practices like child marriage, lalung-lalo na kapag ang bagay na ito ay nagkakaroon ng hindi magandang epekto sa pamumuhay ng mga bata, hindi lamang sa Bangsamoro, kundi sa buong Pilipinas at buong mundo. Let’s be champions for their hopes and dreams,” youth advocate Farhana Tala Ganoy of MAYA said.

Pass Anti-Child Marriage Law

Child rights advocates noted that while the Senate has already passed its version of a bill that prohibits child marriage, the House of Representatives has yet to act on similar pending bills, with the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality scheduled to hold its first-ever hearing on the pending bills this May 19.

Child marriage is still a prevalent practice in Muslim and indigenous communities in the Philippines. Although the legal marrying age for Filipinos is 18, the Code of Muslim Personal Laws or Section 1 Article 16 of Presidential No. 1083 allows marriage at the age of puberty or at the onset of first menstruation.

“We note with distinction how the Senate has speedily approved Senate Bill 1373, which institutes a culturally appropriate program to not only prohibit child marriage, but also help victims to be provided access to restorative justice,” CRN Convenor Romeo Dongeto said.

“As the House of Representatives readies for the opening of the debates on the practice of child marriage, may this point be highlighted: that beyond cultural norms, this practice is still prevalent – and even on the rise – as a result of economic insecurity brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our legislators need to look at the issue not only as a matter of prohibiting the act of solemnizing and facilitating child marriage, but also about addressing the fact that many families are resorting to this act as a survival strategy amid severe poverty,” Dongeto explained.