TACLOBAN CITY — The house in a government resettlement site is dimly lit by a single LED light as 17-year-old Jessa sits on a stool by the door trying to put her eight-month-old child to sleep while waiting for her 19-year-old partner to come home from a day of driving a pedicab.

"It's still early anyway, I still have time to prepare," she said, while chatting with her friends, sharing expectations about a Christmas party later that night. "I didn't expect motherhood would be this difficult but I am fortunate to have an understanding partner."

Jessa and her partner have been living together for over a year now since she got pregnant by the guy who was not her boyfriend but a casual acquaintance in their gang of mostly teenagers.

"My parents are pushing us to get married but other relatives are against it. We are still young and we do not want to be tied up in a marriage this early," she said.

Jessa's case is common to thousands of girls who got pregnant while still a minor and being egged on by their family to marry — some were successful through surreptitious means — despite a law that prohibits it.

 The Prohibition of Child Marriage Law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on 10 December 2021, though, remains relatively unknown, especially in far-flung communities where cohabitation between an adult and a minor is more accepted.

Poor implementation

 This year, the law's poor implementation took the spotlight with the prosecution of the leaders of Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc., a registered civic organization that is believed to be a cult based in Socorro, Surigao del Norte, led by Jey Rence Quilario, alias Señor Aguila.

 Socorro "cult" leaders and members were allegedly involved in the facilitation and solemnization of the forced marriages of 21 minors.

 Quilario, as well as other officials of the group, were indicted for various criminal offenses, including qualified trafficking in persons, facilitating and solemnizing child marriages, and child abuse before the Regional Trial Court of Dapa, Surigao del Norte.

 "The Socorro case is an example of why we need to strengthen the law prohibiting child marriages," said Jeanette Kindipan-Dulawan, Oxfam Pilipinas Gender Justice Portfolio manager.

 "We have seen how child marriage deprives girls of their right to health, education, safety, and wellbeing. When a child gives birth at an early age, we are not just putting the life of the young mother at risk but also her child's. We don't want this to happen to any child," Dulawan said.

 The Socorro case is the first time the Prohibition on Child Marriage Law will be enforced since it was signed into law.