Political Science 152

Paper whatever ko

Republic Act No. 9231: An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of

Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child, amending for this

purpose Republic Act No. 7610. As amended, otherwise known as the “Special Protection of

Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

In my Communications 3 class, we did a panel discussion about child prostitution in

Asia. In our research for the topic, we have found that the Philippines is one of the countries in

Asia with the highest number of children working as prostitutes. What does this say about our

country? There are not enough laws that protect children or if there are, the implementation is

very weak.

On December 19, 2003, Republic Act No. 9231 was approved. As stated in the title of

this paper, it is an amendment to a previous law, the Republic Act. No. 7610. This is one of the

laws in the Philippines aimed at protecting the welfare of the children. If this is the case, why

was the Philippines included in the list of the countries with the highest child prostitution in

Asia? Why can I still see children out in the streets, where their lives are endangered, selling

whatever merchandise? Why are there children working in dumpsites, which can be very harmful

to their health? Why is there a growing number of children getting involved in pornographic

activities on the internet?

 The purpose of this paper is to provide criticisms to the aforementioned law. The

questions above are general concerns that can be addressed to the implementation of this law. In

the succeeding paragraphs, specific details of the law will be looked into.

Stated in Sec. 3, as amended from Sec. 12-D, par. (1) of R.A. 7610, “All forms of

slavery, as defined under the ‘Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003’….including the

recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.” However, this cannot be seen in the armed

conflicts in Mindanao. There have already been reports that children are being recruited by the

rebels to engage in war. At such a young age, these children are being taught to hold guns, shoot

and kill, deprived of education and put at risk during encounters. What purpose does R.A. 9231

serve these children? They cannot avail of the treatment that they ought to have as provided for

by the said law.

The term “children” in this context refers to all persons under eighteen (18) years of age.

This implies that a portion of these so called “children” include those that are at a stage of

development where they imitate whatever they see around them, including what they see on

television. These things they see become the foundation of their beliefs that they will carry on

until maturity.

It is stated in Sec. 2 of R.A.9231, as amended from Sec. 12 par. (9) of R.A. 7610, “The

employer [of the working child] shall ensure protection, health, safety, MORALS and normal

development of the child”; in the same fashion, also in the amended Sec. 12-D par. (4.a),

“[prohibits work] which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child

as a human being”; in the amended Sec. 12-D, par. (4.b), “[prohibits work]…may prejudice

MORALS.”
 My concern here are the television shows that cast children as their lead characters. For

example, in the television show “Super Inggo”, the lead actor “Inggo”, about seven (7) years of

age, already has a girlfriend there. The issue here I believe is the image this type of scenario

presents to children. At such a young age, they are given the idea of malice towards the opposite

sex. Being a young child that he is, children watching the show will be imitating this. Our

featured law does not do anything about this.

Another example, the show “Goin Bulilit” is a comedy show which also stars children.

My concern here is that some of the gags that these kids make involve role-playing as husbands

and wives, as pregnant women, drunkards and political figures. In playing these roles, the

children are already given notion of the bad things that are happening around them. What is

wrong with this is that it corrupts the minds of the children with things they still do not

understand, and at the moment, they need not concern themselves with.

Also in the same show, some of the gags involve isolating a child from the group because

of being unattractive. It may serve to give good laughs but in gives the idea of discrimination

among the children. Aside from the fact it diminishes the intrinsic worth of the child deemed as

“unattractive”, it can be imitated by other children, in school or at home, which can be very sad

for the children concerned.

It is stated in Sec. 12-D par. (2), the worst forms of child labor include “the use,

procuring or offering of a child for prostitution…” In a documentary I have seen in channel 7,

there are a lot of sex dens in Metro Manila with minors working. Usually, in these sex dens,

foreigners are the customers. I see no protection of these children against child prostitution. The

law mentioned does not serve them right.

 What if the sexually abused child knows what she is doing and enjoys it? Also in a

documentary, in the slums of Metro Manila, there are gang rapes. However, the girls who are

victims of these are well-aware of what they are doing. In an interview with one of the young

boys engaged in such activity, he claimed that the girl(s) are the ones who call on the boys and

perform such scandalous activity. How will this law deal with the child, fully-conscious of

his/her activity, and yet considered as a victim of child labor as defined in R.A. 9231.

With the growing population of the Philippines, each day, a life of a child is put in danger

because of the weak implementation of laws which are supposed to take care of them.

I think the success of this law for the protection of children lies in the vigilance and

awareness of the citizens. If the citizens are fully aware of the details of this law, they can easily

identify and hence, report violations to this, they see around their environment.

I think this law should also be taught in passing, to children in school. This will allow the

children to be cautious of their actions. In doing so, they can be aware themselves if they are

already abused. What is needed really is proper information-dissemination of all the laws, in

general. It will be very hard to apply laws to people who do not know anything about it.