MANIFESTATION OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS FOR THIRD READING VOTE OF GIRLS NOT BRIDES

Ako po ay nagpapasalamat sa aking mga kasama sa Senado, kay Majority Leader at sa ating Senate President, para sa pagpasa on Third Reading nitong Girls not Brides Bill. Perhaps, ensconced as we are here in the capital, it is hard for us to understand the significance and the impact of this bill. The issue of child, early and forced marriages is one that is largely invisible to us here in Metro Manila, but it is a tragic reality for scores of young girls who are forced by economic circumstances and cultural expectations to shelve their own dreams. begin families they are not ready for, and raise children even when their own childhoods have not yet ended.

Today we give our girls a chance to dream, a chance to define their future according to their own terms. We defend their right to declare when they are ready to begin their families. We tell them their health matters to us, their education matters to us. We give them a fighting shot.