[CHILD LABOR]

In the similar context [to undermining of rights], there are some children all over the

world are experiencing deprivation of their basic rights by being subjected to Child Labor— it is

where they are subjected to work that is harmful to the physical and mental development of these

children that results to the deprivation of their childhood, potential and their dignity (ILO 1).

This phenomenon can lead to underdeveloped citizens of the society which will be deemed

incompetent workers as compared to those were not deprived of these basic rights and were able

to reach their full potential. Thus, it is undeniable that there is a need imperative need to address

this issue to in order to achieve a competent workforce.

In the Philippines, the prevalence of this issue has already been established. During the

latest ILO-supported survey by National Statistics Office (NSO), 5.5 million out of the 29

million children here in the Philippines a progressive increase from the 4.2 million child

labourers which came from the 2001 survey. This increasing numbers demands the urgency of

attention to address this problem.

In response to this, Philippines made actions in order to combat this phenomenon which

includes: The commitments to international agreements and conventions, particularly being one

of the signatories of documents that upholds the rights of a child— and example of which is the

Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924 which lists down and recognizes all the rights of

the child as well as the challenge for the state to uphold these rights. The ILO Convention No.

138: Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, which aims to regulate the admission of

children to work by specifying an age of admission for employment. The Oslo Agenda for

Action of 1997, which states that the state will protect the child from all forms of economic

exploitation that will hinder with the full development of the child— paving way to
implementation of social and economic policies to address and combat the sources of Child labor

(Aldaba et al. 54).

On a national level, the Philippine government also made actions to ensure the to

implement their own national policies that are much tailored to address the own countries

problem in child labor. This includes: The 1987 Philippine Constitution that includes the

recognition of the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation and ensures the protection of

the rights of children in order to achieve developed community. There is also the Labour Code of

the Philippines which regulates and specifies the conditions of employing a child. Several

Republic Acts and Presidential Decrees have also been passed in order to strengthen the grounds

for protecting the welfare of the child (Aldaba et. al 55).

The laws and policies however only lay down the framework for fighting against child

labor— demanding the help of programmes that would guide the Filipino family away from

practicing child labor. Among of which are: The National Programme of Action Against Child

Labor (NPACL) which aims to eliminate all forms of child labor by raising awareness, improve

the service of the government, provide more economic opportunities and many more. Another

one is the Country Programmes for Children, 1989-2003 (CPC-III toV) of the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which aims to solidifies the knowledge and awareness of the people

about the status quo of child labor as well as it’s imminent threat to community development,

this also aims to raise funds to provide support the fight against child labor (Aldaba et. al. 59).

With all the conventions, laws, policies and programs mentioned above, it Philippine

government are not lacking in terms of providing framework to support the fight against child

labor. However, with the latest statistics of working children, it begs the question why— why is

the number of working children progressively increasing or why is it still prevalent at the least?
 The problem lies with the inadequacy of strict implementation of these laws, policies and

problems. According to Caragay in theri ABK3 Leap Studies: OSH, issues of non-compliance by

certain agencies and institutions to pre-existing laws, non-applicability of come laws to certain

cases or the mere ignorance of the pre-existing laws and policies were prevalent in the Philippine

economy. These issues were particularly observed in the focus of their study which was child

labor in the sugarcane industry. Land owners would employ children despite not reaching the

minimum age requirement for employment which is a clear violation of the Labor Code of the

Philippines (35). There is also the inadequacy advocacy campaign and awareness of the child

labor. In the similar research, it has been pointed out that there is lack of awareness in these rural

areas about their rights and the dangers of child labors. Lastly, there is an issue with the

availability of economic opportunities from the families leaving them no choice but to indulge in

the having their children work (101).

This paper aims provides information on the problems that are encountered in the fight

against child labor and recommends to use to information to further address the problem of child

labor in the Philippines.

experiencing deprivation of their basic rights by being subjected to Child Labor— it is where

they are subjected to work that is harmful to the physical and mental development of these

children that results to the deprivation of their childhood, potential and their dignity (ILO 1)—

leading to underdeveloped citizens of the society which will be deemed incompetent workers as

compared to those were not deprived of these basic rights and were able to reach their full

potential. Thus, it is undeniable that there is a need imperative need to address this issue to in

order to achieve a competent workforce.

In the Philippines, the prevalence of this issue has already been established. During the

latest ILO-supported survey by National Statistics Office (NSO), 5.5 million out of the 29

million children here in the Philippines a progressive increase from the 4.2 million child

labourers which came from the 2001 survey. This increasing numbers demands the urgency of

attention to address this problem.

In response to this, Philippines made actions in order to combat this phenomenon which

includes: The commitments to international agreements and conventions, a particular example

would be being one of the signatories of documents that upholds the rights of a child— and

example of which is the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924 which lists down and

recognizes all the rights of the child as well as the challenge for the state to uphold these rights

(Aldaba et al. 54).

On a national level, the Philippine government also made actions to ensure the to

implement their own national policies that are much tailored to address the own countries

problem in child labor. This includes: The 1987 Philippine Constitution that includes the

recognition of the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation and ensures the protection of
the rights of children in order to achieve developed community. There is also the Labour Code of

the Philippines which regulates and specifies the conditions of employing a child. Several

Republic Acts and Presidential Decrees have also been passed in order to strengthen the grounds

for protecting the welfare of the child (Aldaba et. al 55).

The laws and policies however only lays down the framework for fighting against child

labor— demanding the help of programmes to enforce and strengthen the fight agianst child

labor. Among of which are: The National Programme of Action Against Child Labor (NPACL)

and the Country Programmes for Children, 1989-2003 (CPC-III toV) of the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF), both of which generally aim to solidify the knowledge and

awareness of the people about the status quo of child labor as well as it’s imminent threat to

community development, as well as to raise funds and produce more economic opportunities

support the fight against child labor (Aldaba et. al. 59).

With all the conventions, laws, policies and programs mentioned above, it Philippine

government are not lacking in terms of providing framework to support the fight against child

labor. However, with the latest statistics of working children, it begs the question why— why is

the number of working children progressively increasing or why is it still prevalent at the least?

The problem lies with the inadequacy of strict implementation of these laws, policies and

problems. According to Caragay in theri ABK3 Leap Studies: OSH, issues of non-compliance by

certain agencies and institutions to pre-existing laws, non-applicability of come laws to certain

cases or the mere ignorance of the pre-existing laws and policies were prevalent in the Philippine

economy. These issues were particularly observed in the focus of their study which was child

labor in the sugarcane industry (35). There is also the inadequacy advocacy campaign and

awareness of the child labor. In the similar research, it has been pointed out that there is lack of
awareness in these rural areas about their rights and the dangers of child labors. Lastly, there is

an issue with the availability of economic opportunities from the families leaving them no choice

but to indulge in the having their children work (101).

This paper aims to serve as a reminder and tracker of where we are in the fight against

child labor by pointing out the problems are encountered in the fight against child labor. This

paper also recommends to use the information to further address the problem and fill the lapses

of child labor advocacy in the Philippines.