Until now, children's rights groups say perpetrators of sexual assault against boys are given much lesser sentences than those found guilty of raping girls.
She recalled making the choice to 'accept' herself rather than wallow in self-loathing or try to lose weight after her friends shamed her for putting on 15lbs in college.
"This law reform is particularly urgent because the Philippines has such a high prevalence of violence against children," chief of child protection at the UN children's agency UNICEF Patrizia Benvenuti said.
She graced the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue last year as a model search finalist, and in 2017, she Victoria's Secret ads to show that 'curvy girls can rock and sell lingerie just as well as straight-size models.