New

• Republic Act No. 7610 was enacted on June 17, 1992
• The act is titled "Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act"
• Children


  Persons below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition
• Child abuse


  Maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, unreasonable deprivation of basic needs, and failure to provide medical treatment
• Circumstances which gravely threaten or endanger the survival and normal development of children


  • Being in a community with armed conflict
  • Working under hazardous conditions
  • Living in or fending for themselves in the streets
  • Being a member of an indigenous cultural community living in extreme poverty
  • Being a victim of a man-made or natural disaster
  • Other analogous circumstances
• Comprehensive program against child abuse, exploitation and discrimination


  Coordinated program of services and facilities to protect children against child prostitution and other sexual abuse, child trafficking, obscene publications and indecent shows, other acts of abuse, and circumstances which threaten or endanger their survival and normal development
• Formulation of the program


  To be done by the Department of Justice and the Department of Social Welfare and Development in coordination with other government agencies and private sector concerned, within one (1) year from the effectivity of the act
• Child prostitution and other sexual abuse


  Children, whether male or female, who for money, profit, or any other consideration or due to the coercion or influence of any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct
• Attempt to commit child prostitution


  1. When a person who is not a relative of the child is found alone with the child in a secluded area under circumstances suggesting the child is about to be exploited

  2. When a person is receiving services from a child in a sauna, massage clinic, or other similar establishment
• Child trafficking


  Any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with children including, but not limited to, the act of buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other consideration, or barter
• Attempt to commit child trafficking


  1. When a child travels alone to a foreign country without valid reason and without clearance

  2. When a person, agency, or institution recruits women or couples to bear children for the purpose of child trafficking

  3. When a doctor, hospital, or other person simulates a birth for the purpose of child trafficking

  4. When a person engages in finding children among low-income families, hospitals, clinics, etc. who can be offered for child trafficking
• Republic Act No. 7610 was enacted on June 17, 1992
• The act is titled "Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act"
• Children


  Persons below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition
• Child abuse


  Maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment; any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being; unreasonable deprivation of basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious impairment of growth and development or permanent incapacity or death
• Circumstances which gravely threaten or endanger the survival and normal development of children


  • Being in a community where there is armed conflict or being affected by armed conflict-related activities
  • Working under conditions hazardous to life, safety and normal which unduly interfere with their normal development
  • Living in or fending for themselves in the streets of urban or rural areas without the care of parents or a guardian or basic services needed for a good quality of life
  • Being a member of a indigenous cultural community and/or living under conditions of extreme poverty or in an area which is underdeveloped and/or lacks or has inadequate access to basic services needed for a good quality of life
  • Being a victim of a man-made or natural disaster or calamity
  • Circumstances analogous to those above stated which endanger the life, safety or normal development of children
• Comprehensive program against child abuse, exploitation and discrimination

  Coordinated program of services and facilities to protected children against child prostitution and other sexual abuse, child trafficking, obscene publications and indecent shows, other acts of abuses, and circumstances which threaten or endanger the survival and normal development of children
• The Department of Justice and the Department of Social Welfare and Development shall formulate the comprehensive program within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act
• Child prostitution and other sexual abuse


  Children, whether male or female, who for money, profit, or any other consideration or due to the coercion or influence of any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct
• Engaging in or promoting, facilitating or inducing child prostitution


  1. Acting as a procurer of a child prostitute

  2. Inducing a person to be a client of a child prostitute by means of written or oral advertisements or other similar means

  3. Taking advantage of influence or relationship to procure a child as prostitute

  4. Threatening or using violence towards a child to engage him as a prostitute

  5. Giving monetary consideration goods or other pecuniary benefit to a child with intent to engage such child in prostitution
• The penalty for the above acts is reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua
• The penalty for committing the act of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse is the same, except when the victim is under 12 years old, in which case the perpetrator shall be prosecuted for rape or lascivious conduct
• Those who derive profit or advantage from child prostitution, whether as manager or owner of the establishment where it takes place, shall also be penalized
• Attempt to commit child prostitution


  1. When a person who is not a relative of the child is found alone with the child inside a room or cubicle of a house, inn, hotel, motel, pension house, apartelle or other similar establishments, vessel, vehicle or any other hidden or secluded area under circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the child is about to be exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse

  2. When a person is receiving services from a child in a sauna parlor or bath, massage clinic, health club and other similar establishments
• The penalty for attempt to commit child prostitution is lower by two (2) degrees than that prescribed for the consummated felony
• Child trafficking


  Any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with children including, but not limited to, the act of buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other consideration, or barter
• The penalty for child trafficking is reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua, with the maximum penalty imposed when the victim is under 12 years of age
• Attempt to commit child trafficking

  1. When a child travels alone to a foreign country without valid reason and without clearance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development or written permit from parents/guardian

  2. When a person, agency, establishment or child-caring institution recruits women or couples to bear children for the purpose of child trafficking

  3. When a doctor, hospital or clinic official or employee, nurse, midwife, local civil registrar or any other person simulates birth for the purpose of child trafficking

  4. When a person engages in the act of finding children among low-income families, hospitals, clinics, nurseries, day-care centers, or other child-during institutions who can be offered for the purpose of child trafficking
• The penalty for attempt to commit child trafficking is lower by two (2) degrees than that prescribed for the consummated felony