Heinrich Stefan Ritter, an Austrian doctor, was initially convicted of Rosario's 'rape with homicide'. Currently, onus on prosecution to prove child was under 12 That could be set to change now, as draft legislation proposes raising the age of consent to 16. Her case has since become the subject of a documentary novel, titled Rosario is Dead, and helped to pave the way for significant legal reforms in the Philippines, including legislation in 1992 to give stronger protection to children from sexual abuse or exploitation.īut those reforms did not include raising the age of consent, which has remained at 12 since it was enshrined in a penal code that was first enacted in the Philippines in 1930. Her gravestone at Olongapo, north-west of Manila, states that Rosario was just 11 years old when she died in 1987.īut the lack of a birth certificate - or any proof of her age - was one factor that led the court to acquit the man originally charged and convicted of rape with homicide in a country where the age of consent for sex is 12. The internal injuries she received from an alleged rape caused a severe infection in her cervix that eventually led to her death in a Philippines hospital.
Rosario Baluyot took seven months to die.
