Short answer. Buying, selling, bartering, or otherwise trading a child is child trafficking. Section 7 of RA 7610 punishes it with reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua, but today such cases are principally prosecuted under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, RA 9208 (2003) as amended by RA 10364 (2012), which generally carries heavier penalties.
What the law says
Any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with children including, but not limited to, the act of buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other consideration, or barter, shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua.
RA 7610, Section 7 — Child Trafficking. Read the full provision →
What counts as child trafficking
Section 7 of Republic Act 7610 defines the crime broadly. It reaches any person who shall engage in trading and dealing with children, and it makes clear the list of covered acts is open. The buying and selling of a child for money, or for any other consideration, or barter is included, but the statute says those acts are not limited to what it lists. So handing a child over in exchange for goods, favors, or the settling of a debt is reached just as a cash sale is. The law condemns treating a child as a thing to be traded, whatever form the exchange takes.
The penalty and the age factor
The penalty the section states is severe: the offender shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua. That is a long range of imprisonment reaching, at its top, up to life-long imprisonment. The law then adds an aggravating rule tied to the child's age. The penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period when the victim is under twelve (12) years of age. In practice this means the youngest and most vulnerable victims trigger the heaviest end of the range, reflecting the greater harm the law sees in trading away a very young child.
The law that governs these cases today
This provision must be read alongside later law. Trafficking of children is now principally prosecuted under a dedicated statute: Republic Act 9208 (2003), the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, as amended by Republic Act 10364 (2012). That later law was written specifically for trafficking and generally carries the heavier penalties. Section 7 of RA 7610 remains on the books and can still be cited, but a trafficking case brought today is usually charged under RA 9208 as amended. Anyone facing or reporting such a case should expect the newer Anti-Trafficking Act, not this older section, to frame the charge.
Why this matters and where it points
The upshot is that selling or buying a child is treated as one of the gravest offenses against a minor, punishable by imprisonment that can extend to a lifetime. It is separate from, and heavier than, ordinary child abuse or illegal recruitment. Because the modern charge lives in the Anti-Trafficking Act, victims and witnesses are given protection and the case is handled as trafficking rather than as a simple property transaction. Reporting is the first practical step, and the linked guide explains how to do it.