DEPUTY Speaker and Bagong Henerasyon (BH) party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera on Sunday said the Philippines moved one step closer to ending child marriage after the House of Representatives has approved on second reading a landmark bill banning such “longstanding disturbing practice.”

“It’s time to end child marriage, which is a form of violence against children,” said Herrera, one of the authors and sponsors of House Bill (HB) No. 9943, which seeks to prohibit and declare child marriage as illegal and to impose penalties against violators.

The measure is now up for third and final reading in the lower house, and Herrera is hopeful and confident it will be enacted into law under the present 18th Congress.

Under the bill, the solemnization of child marriage and cohabitation of an adult with a child outside wedlock are considered unlawful acts.

A fine of at least P40,000 and jail term of up to 12 years await solemnizing officers, parents, guardians, or adults who fixed, facilitated, or arranged child marriage.

In her sponsorship speech, Herrera said it was such a shame that the Philippines ranked 12th worldwide in terms of absolute numbers of child marriage.

“Nasa Top 20 na naman po tayo sa buong mundo ng isang hindi kanais-nais na gawain,” Herrera said, citing the 2017 State of the World’s Children Report by UNICEF.

Herrera also expressed alarm over the 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey showing that 15 percent, or approximately 700,000, of women aged 20-24 years old were first married or in union before the age of 18.

The Philippine Statistics Authority 2013 survey also showed that 12.2 percent of all registered marriages in the country involved teenage brides 15 to 19 years old. This means that in that one year alone, close to 54,000 marriages had teenage brides.

“Hindi po ito maliit na bagay. Libo-libo ng ating kabataang babae ay napilitang ikasal, makipagtalik at mabuntis habang sila ay bata pa,” she lamented.

Herrera said no less the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and various other international human rights conventions declared child marriage as a fundamental human rights violation that has negative impacts on health and development of children.

“It denies them of their childhood, it disrupts their education, and it limits their opportunities,” the House leader pointed out.

According to Herrera, child marriage also “denies both girls and boys the right to choose when and whom to marry, a decision that should be made freely.”

“We believe that there is an urgent need for a national law explicitly prohibiting child marriage and providing programs and services for prevention and response, to ensure that all Filipino children—boys and especially girls—will have the opportunity to grow and develop to their full potential, and the chance to decide when and with whom to marry,” Herrera said.