GMA SIGNS ANTI-CHILD LABOR LAW

Posted: February 2004

Contributor: Peter James Leaño V
E-mail: peter_leano_v@yahoo.com

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9231 or “The Anti
Child Labor Law” on December 19, 2003. The passage of this new measure makes
the Philippines the first country to present model legislation reflective of the widely
ratified International Labor Organization Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child
Labor. 143 governments or 80% of the international community have already ratified
ILO Convention 182 in a span of three years.

The law seeks to eliminate the worst forms of child labor such as those involving
slavery: such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, serfdom,
including recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; prostitution and
pornography; use pf children for illegal activities, including drug trafficking; and any
work that is hazardous and harmful to the health, safety and morals of children.

Among the salient features of the law is the stipulation that children below 15 years
of age, if working in non-hazardous conditions, may work for not more that 20 hours
a week, at most 4 hours a day. The law limits children 15 – 17 years old to work not
more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Night work from 8pm to 6am is
prohibited.

The law also states that children should receive and own their wages. The child’s
earnings shall be set aside primarily for his/her support, education or skill acquisition
and not more than 20% of the child’s income may be allotted for the collective needs
of the family.

Parents or the legal guardian are instructed to establish a trust fund from at least
30% of the earnings of the child whose wages and salaries from work and other
income amount to at least P200,000.00 annually. A semi-annual accounting of the
fund shall be submitted to the Department of Labor and Employment for monitoring
purposes. The child shall have full control over the trust fund upon reaching the age
of majority.

Employers on the other hand are instructed to provide the working child access to al
least primary and secondary education. In line with this provision, the Department of
Education shall design and make available to working children alternative and non-
formal education courses.

The government shall also provide and make accessible to working children free and
immediate legal, medical and psychological services. Victims of child labor shall be
exempted from paying filing fees for recovering civil damages.

The new law also provides for stiffer penalties against acts of child labor, particularly
in its worst forms. It increased the penalties against abusers to a maximum of P5
million and 20 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor and Employments is
given the authority to close down business establishments found violating anti child
labor provisions of the new law. According to Ms. Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda,
President of Visayan Forum Foundation, “Making child labor abuse a very expensive
crime is a way to send a strong signal to employers and recruiters to stop abusing
and exploiting children because stiffer penalties encourage parents and the victims to
seriously pursue their complaints in court.”
Child Abuse:
A SILENT EPIDEMIC*
In the Philippines, our children are our most precious national asset and their numbers are
growing. There are 36.3 million Filipinos who are 19 years old and below (NSO 2000). Yet no
group of Filipinos faces more hazards than do our children. In excess of a million and a half
children are estimated to live on the streets, begging for food and often engaging in criminal
activity. More than three and a half million children from 5 to 17 work under often-grueling
conditions, in spite of legislation outlawing child labor.
Although we have reliable information on a number of the hazards facing our children today, the
data surrounding the prevalence of child abuse and neglect are widely viewed as underestimates as
they merely reflect reported and validated cases of abuse. A survey of the DSWD data through the
years reflects a sudden increase in their number of clients probably as a result of increased
recognition and reporting in the community. The children in this survey were victims of physical
abuse, neglect, with majority reporting sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.
The number of abused children
reported to agencies or receiving
services reflects merely the very tip
of the iceberg of the child abuse
problem in the Philippines. To
Number of Child Abuse Cases Served by DSWD 1998 illustrate, compare the numbers on
to 2002 the left with the results of a
community-based survey to
determine the prevalence of child
abuse. In this population-based study
commissioned by the Philippine
Department of Health for its Baseline
Survey for National Health
Objectives (BSNOH) Project in 2000,
sealed questionnaires were distributed
to adolescents in randomly sampled
urban and rural provinces. In a
country with a total population of 70
million, and almost 40% of the
population below 20 years old, the
resulting figures are astoundingly
high compared to the number of
children actually served.

Prevalence of violence, abuse and neglect in adolescence

By Gender, Urban-Rural, Philippines 2000 (BSNOH)
ADOLESCENTS TOTAL IN MALE IN FEMALE IN
(n=2704) PERCENT PERCENT PERCENT
(n=1348) (n=1356)

Lifetime 8 8 8
Abuse 5.9 6.6 5.2
HISTORY OF CHILD ABUSE
Psychological 5 6 5
9.7 5.7 4.5
Physical 8 7 8
2.9 3.7 1.0
Sexual 11.9 1 11.2
Molestation 2.8
Forced 1.8 3.5 0.2
Sex/Rape
Neglect 5.4 3.3 7.3
CURRENT ABUSE
Psychological 5 6 5
9.7 5.7 4.5
Physical 8 7 8
2.9 3.7 1.0
Sexual 11.9 1 11.2
Molestation 2.8
Forced 1.8 3.5 0.2
Sex/Rape
Neglect 5.4 3.3 7.3

Experts agree that while community-based surveys may approach the true prevalence of child
abuse better than the figures from service providers, these statistics remain underestimates.
International child abuse research demonstrates strong correlations between child maltreatment
and other socioeconomic phenomena, such as poverty, drug addiction, spousal abuse and street
children. The prevalence of these phenomena in the Philippines gives us reason to believe that we
are just scratching the surface of the child abuse epidemic.
_________________________
*Excerpted from the UP-PGH Child Protection Unit Annual Report 2003

National Situation:
• Infant mortality rate is pegged at 42.73 per 1,000 live births (Department
of Health, 1 September 1999).
• 28% of children under age 5 are severely and moderately underweight
based on international standards (World Summit Goals for Children,
1998).
• 49% of the total population of infants and 26% of the total population of
children with ages ranging from 1 - 6 years old suffer from iron-
deficiency anemia.
• There is one (1) hospital for every 113,040 people. There is only 1 doctor
for every 24, 417 people; 1 nurse for every 22,309; 1 dentist for every
578,124; and, 1 midwife for every 722,654 people (Philippine Yearbook
of Statistics).
• More than half of the over 42,000 barangays in the country do not have
provisions for a pre-school. Only 19% of children aged 4 to 6 years old
are able to go to public and private pre-schools.
• More than 1/3 of the more than 42,000 barangays in the country could not
offer the required six years of elementary education.
• Sixty percent of the children drop out of school when they reach the
second grade (PDI, 18 May 1997).
• Sixty-one towns in the country do not have a high school.
• It is estimated that there are about five million child laborers in the
country (UNICEF 1995). Two-thirds of them are found in the rural areas.
• There are 1.5 million streetchildren. DSWD estimates that this number
increases annually by 6,365.
• Of the 1.5 million streetchildren, 60,000 are prostituted (ECPAT 1996).
The DSWD claims that the annual average increase of prostituted
children is 3,266. The Philippines is the fourth country with the most
number of prostituted children (Intersect, December 1995).
• Research studies conducted in schools show that for every 3 Filipino
children, one child experiences abuse (Manila Bulletin, 11 February
1996). During the first semester of 1999 alone, there were 2,393 children
who fell prey to rape, attempted rape, incest, acts of lasciviousness and
prostitution (DSWD 1st semester, CY 1999).
The statistics are growing each day. These clearly depict the immense hardship
which Filipino children are subjected to. Unfortunately, the family that is
supposedly the primary source of the children's sense of trust and security is
itself beleaguered. In most instances, it can no longer adequately provide even
the children's most basic needs like food, education, housing, and an atmosphere
of love, affection and nurturance. Its capacity to protect the children and
enhance their development and participation rights is likewise affected
 a look at child labor in the Philippines
Child labor is one of the many concerns in the
Philippines and, most disturbingly, one of the most
rampant problems we face. In the endeavor to create an
awareness of an already existing law that is evidently not
properly implemented, child labor clearly falls within this
category. Every child has the right to the most basic of
necessities in life like a healthy environment, formal
education, and most importantly, a loving family to come
home to. Yet, poverty hinders the child to any of these
things and forces labor in farming fields, mining shafts
and peddling in the busy and dangerous streets of the
country.

Child labor refers to the illegal employment of children below 18 years

old in hazardous occupations. Underage children are being forced to
manual labor to help their families mainly due to poverty. About 2.06
million children all around the Philippines are compelled to do labor,
such as in crop plantations, mining caves, rock quarries and factories.
Child labor has many ill effects in children who are supposed to be in
the environment of a classroom rather than roaming the streets and
risking every chance, time and time again, to earn enough money.
Although most do get the privilege of education, most end up being
dropouts and repeaters because they are not able to focus on their
studies. Because of child labor, children suffer from malnutrition,
hampered growth and improper biological development.

We regard the youth as the future movers of our country. They will
inherit the pride and heritage which has been earned by the sweat,
blood and tears of our ancestors. Thus, they must be entitled to the
proper preparation to lead this country. And we firmly believe that in
forcing these very children to give all of that up just to be able to put
food on their families’ tables puts that same future in grave danger.

The government and society, in their own respectful way, are willing to
aid in the solution of this problem. But it is a fact that it is not as
simple as passing new laws but in the fortification of proper
implementation. It is therefore imperative for all people of this nation
voice out this concern and to be willing to truly usher in the solution of
this ever-growing plight.

Article 32 of Rights of a Human Child RA7658

(Prohibition of the Employment of Children)
 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to
interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

2. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational

measures to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end, and
having regard to the relevant provisions of other international instruments, States
Parties shall in particular:

• Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admissions to employment;

• Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;

• Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective

enforcement of the present article.

A Compar ison of Art ic le 32 to the Natura l Law &

Church Law

First of all, what does the Natural Law state? For one, it says that we
are "embodied spirits". Our bodies are the manifestations of the
goodness of the spirit. The spirit’s actions are made possible through
the structure of the human person. Our bodies should be respected
and taken cared of. In our opinion, Article 32 indeed moves towards the
protection of these children from, as was said, physical harm and
limited biological growth. It is a step towards the full protection of
these frail children’s bodies

Secondly, the Natural Law states that humans are "unique yet
fundamentally equal". This means that each and every human being,
from any social background, is entitled to the same rights as any
human being. No matter who you are, or where you come from, or
anything else, the plain fact that you are a living person grants you the
simple rights to decent food, shelter, and clothing. Moreover, our group
stresses the point that one of these due to them is the right to formal
education. The child should be in a classroom environment with
classmates and teachers not fellow vendors and workers on the
streets. Each child has to have equal opportunities but unfortunately
for these children, what they have is something short of what they are
entitled to.

On being "people who are open and relational", child labor also
eliminates this part in a child’s growth as a human being. A child’s
relationship with others can be stunted in the face of the improbable
workload. The few of them who have complete families are not even
able to thrive in their support. They sacrifice time together to working
for the necessities in life.

As "historical beings", we do not dwell in eternity. The future is dictated

by our past and our present condition. For these children, future is
bleak because now, in their present existence, they live lives of
endangerment and "slavery".

As Luke 18:16 depicted, "Let the children come to me and don’t stop
them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Even the
Church stresses the importance and value of these children in the
Christian community. They will not only inherit the country, but the
Christian tradition as well. It is they who will not only be the movers of
the nation, but also the ones who will nourish the Christian faith. We as
the Church community have the responsibility to protect these
children. The teachings of the Church, the most basic yet the most
overlooked is to love and care for one another. Yet, in the eyes of the
sampaguita vendors in the streets, we know that little love and care is
in their lives. Even though poor financially, it doesn’t mean poverty of
the spirit. That is why, the Church’s call is not a simple donation of
money or material things. The Church calls for awareness, aid and
most importantly, love.