SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
]
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
]
Second R e g u la r S ession 
]
SENATE
S. B. No.
1575
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In tro d u ced  by SENATOR SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN
AN ACT
INCREASING THE AGE FOR DETERMINING STATUTORY RAPE TO 
PROVIDE STRONGER PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN, AND AMENDING 
FOR THIS PURPOSE ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, ALSO KNOWN AS
THE REVISED PENAL CODE
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Article 34 of The Convention on the Rights of the Child is explicit that 
State Parties, such as the Philippines, should undertake to protect the child 
from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Similarly, we eire 
tasked to take all appropriate m easures to prevent the inducem ent or 
coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity and the 
exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices.
In response to this m andate, an insurm ountable am ount of legal, 
hum anitarian and advocacy works are being done, not only by the Philippine 
government, bu t by different organizations th at are fighting to ensure th at 
Filipino children are safe from sexual abuses and exploitation. In spite of 
these, the incidents of prostitution and sexual solicitation involving victims 
who are under 18 years old are common news th at we encounter every single 
day.


On a legal perspective, there is a need to continuously strengthen and 
enforce laws to address this m atter. Currently, the Revised Penal Code 
imposes m axim um  penalties for sexual offenses when the victim is under 
twelve (12) years of age but adopts a less strict policy for sexual offenses 
against m inors over twelve (12) years of age.
In the United States, the legal age of consent varies from 16 to 18 years 
old from state to state. The age of consent in C anada and A ustralia is 16 years 
old. It is the sam e for m ost Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore and 
Taiwan. A comparative observation shows that the Philippines has one of the 
lowest age established in determ ining statutory sexual abuses committed 
against children.
In the Philippines, the age of majority starts at 18 years of age. Rights 
acquired upon reaching the age of majority include the right to give consent 
to a contract, the right to vote, the right to obtain a Professional Driver’s 
License and the right to m arry subject to obtaining parental consent. Upon 
reaching the age of majority, a person is considered to have reached basic 
level of m aturity th at allows him to exercise all the rights and assum e all the 
responsibilities of being an adult. Consequently, the age of majority should 
also be considered as the proper age in term s of giving sexual consent.
Raising the m inim um  age of consent to 18 years old for the 
determ ination of statutory rape would address teen prostitution and would 
expand the scope of prohibited sexual relations with a m inor to be classified 
as an act of rape under any circum stance.
Thus, the passage of this bill is e a rn e ^ y  soughn
SHERWIN T. GAT


SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second R eg u lar S ession
SENATE
S.B. No. 1575
'17 
AUG 3 0  
P 3  5 0
h L i , .  ■. 
.
In tro d u ced  by SENATOR SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN
AN ACT
INCREASING THE AGE FOR DETERMINING STATUTORY RAPE TO 
PROVIDE STRONGER PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN, AND AMENDING 
FOR THIS PURPOSE ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, ALSO KNOWN AS
THE REVISED PENAL CODE
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled:
1 
SEC. 1. Act No. 3815, as am ended, otherwise known as the Revised
2 
Penal Code, Artiele 266-A (l)(d) is hereby am ended to read as follows:
3 
“Artiele 266-A. Rape, When and How Committed. -  Rape is committed
4
5
1. By a m an who shall have earnal knowledge of a woman under any 
of the following circum stanees:
XXX 
XXX 
XXX
7 
(d) When the offended party is under EIGHTEEN (18) [twelve (12)] years
8 
of age or is dem ented, even though none of the circum stances m entioned
9 
above be present.”
10 
SEC. 2. R ep ealin g  C lause. -  All laws, acts, presidential decrees,
11 
exeeutive orders, adm inistrative orders, rules and regulations ineonsistent


1 
with or contraiy to this Act are deemed am ended, modified, or repealed
2 
accordingly.
3 
SEC. 3. E ffectivity C lause. -T h is Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
4 
after its publication in at least two (2) new spapers of general circulation.
Approved,