PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte signed into law a measure that raises the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16, Malacañang confirmed on Monday.

On March 4, Duterte signed Republic Act 11648 which amended Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act and increased the age for determining the commission of statutory rape to provide stronger protection for children.

The new law exempts minors engaging in consensual sexual activity from criminal liability as long as their age difference is not more than three years.

The sexual act must also be non-abusive and non-exploitative.

The exemption, however, would not apply if the victim is under 13 years old.

Lawmakers, in resolving differences between House Bill 7836 and Senate Bill 2332, stressed that increasing the statutory rape age is crucial in curbing teenage pregnancies, noting that many young mothers are victims of sexual violence.

Citing the 2019 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Commission on Population and Development Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III  said two out of three adolescents who got pregnant have partners who are older by 20 years.

The POPCOM chief added that this points to a degree of power play and seduction among girls aged 11 and 12.

POPCOM reported this year that the number of girls aged 15 and below who gave birth increased by seven percent from 2018 to 2019 or from 62,341 in 2018 to 62,510 in 2019.

In 2019, 2,411 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth, an equivalent of seven per day.

This is triple the number recorded in 2000 when 755 girls from the same age group gave birth.