A same-day edit (SDE) video featuring the wedding of two minors recently made the round online, leaving netizens puzzled and worried.
Tuladan Studios posted on Facebook an SDE of couple Aiman and Jasiya, aged 10 and 14, respectively.
"We absolutely love how traditional Meranao wedding are making a comeback these days. There's something so beautiful about heritage and the way it's woven into this wedding ceremony," Tuladan Studion wrote.
However, the SDE left netizens concerned, with some even questioning the legality of the wedding.
"[That's] child marriage and it's against the law," one Facebook user commented.
"Why are they even normalizing this? What if they realize they don't really like each other but they couldn't do anything because it's their parents that decided for them," another one added.
Meanwhile, one netizen argued that the marriage "is not advisable," noting that in Islam," one of the prerequisites for the man is to be able to provide for his family."
"A ten-year-old cannot seek employment or run a business, let alone raise a family just yet. That's their life and choice for their family. As a Muslim myself, I wouldn't want to marry off my children, especially my sons, if they are not financially, emotionally, physically, and mentally ready for such a huge responsibility," the netizen added.
Republic Act No. 11596 or An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof, contains strong penalties for those who arrange or facilitate, participate, and/or officiate the marriage of a person under 18.
Considered a public offense, child marriages will also be considered “void ab initio,” meaning they would not be legal.
The law allows for a one-year transitory period during which the penal provisions will be suspended specifically for Muslims and Indigenous peoples.
Penalties for breaking the law include fines and/or prison time, with a penalty of up to 12 years in prison if the perpetrator is a parent, step-parent, or guardian of the minor.
Additionally, those who violate the law by performing or officiating the formal rites of a child marriage will also receive fines and/or prison time, and those in positions of public office will be disqualified from office.
Although the country’s previous law recognized the legal age of marriage as 18, child marriage has been commonly practiced in certain religions and cultures in the Philippines.
One out of six (16.5 percent) Filipina girls are married before they are 18 years old, according to the 2017 Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).
Moreover, the organization Girls Not Brides also noted that the Philippines ranks tenth in the world for the number of girls who are married or in a union before the age of 18.
Girls who marry before the age of 18 are more at risk of being subject to domestic violence.
According to the 2017 NDHS, 26.4 percent of married women aged 15 to 19 years old reported experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional violence.
Meanwhile, there are around 88,600 child brides in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as of 2021, according to a Bangsamoro Women Commission study.