Decision - 37 - G.R. No. 227363 enacted to protect those who, like the child-victim in People v. Ritter, willingly engaged in sexual acts, not out of desire to satisfy their own sexual gratification, but because of their vulnerable pre-disposition as exploited children. She submits that, as opposed to the RPC where sexual crimes are largely predicated on the lack of consent, Section 5(b) fills in the gaps of the RPC by introducing the EPSOSA element which effectively dispenses with the need to prove the lack of consent at the time the act of sexual abuse is committed. Thus, when it comes to a prosecution under Section 5(b), consent at the time the sexual act is consummated is, unlike in the RPC, not anymore a defense. We are unconvinced that R.A. No. 7610 only protects a special class of children, i.e., those who are "exploited in· prostitution or subjected to other sexual abuse," and does not cover all crimes against them that are already punished ~y existing laws. It is hard to understand why the legislature would enact a penal law on child abuse that would create an unreasonable classification between those who are considered as "exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse" or EPSOSA and those who are not. After all, the policy is to provide stronger deterrence and special protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, discrimination and other conditions prejudicial to their development. In the extended explanation of his vote on Senate Bill No. 1209,92 Senator Lina emphasized that the bill complements the efforts the Senate has initiated towards the implementation of a national comprehensive program for the survival and development of Filipino children, in keeping with the Constitutional mandate that "[t]he State shall defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition; and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development. "93 Senator Lina also stressed that the bill supplies the inadequacies of the existing laws treating crimes committed against children, namely, the RPC and the Child and Youth Welfare Code, in the light of the present situation, i.e., current empirical data on child abuse indicate that a stronger deterrence is imperative. 94 In the same vein, Senator Rasul expressed in her Sponsorship Speech the same view that R.A. No. 7610 intends to protect all children against all forms of abuse and exploitation, thus: 92 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR STRONGER DETERRENCE AND SPECIAL PROTECTION AGAINST CHILD ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION, PROVIDING LEGAL PRESUMPTIONS AND PENALTIES FOR ITS VIOLATIONS. 93 94 Record of the Senate, December 2, 1991, Volume II, No. 58, pp. 793-794. Id. ~ (/,