Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte signed a legislation outlawing child marriage, which went into effect on Thursday, making child marriage illegal in the Philippines. The law specifies that "the state... considers child marriage as a practise that constitutes child abuse because it debases, degrades, and demeans the essential worth and dignity of children."

Marriage or cohabitation with anyone under the age of 18 is punishable by a 12-year prison sentence. Those who organise or solemnise underage unions face the same penalty.

In the Philippines, one out of every six girls marries before the age of 18. According to Plan International, a British human rights organisation, the Southeast Asian country has the world's 12th highest percentage of underage marriages, according to The Nation.

The government said that the law complies with international agreements on women's and children's rights. However, several provisions of the law have been put on hold for a year to give Muslims and indigenous tribes, where child marriage is frequent, a chance to adjust.

United Nations Children Fund report released last year indicated that more than half a billion girls and women were married as children around the world, with the greatest rates seen in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

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