Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Philippines (Ratification: 2000)

Previous observation and previous direct request

Articles 3 and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery.Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report, the adoption, in 2022, of: (1) Republic Act No. 116481, which provides for higher penalties if the victim is under 16 years of age in cases of child trafficking and child prostitution; and (2) Republic Act No. 11862, which strengthens the protection of children from exploitation and trafficking by expanding the definition of trafficking to include not only forced labour, slavery and other forms of exploitation but also online sexual exploitation of children. The law also penalizes internet intermediaries who knowingly or by gross negligence allow their internet infrastructures to be used for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons.

The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government on certain decisions of the Supreme Court of 2020 to 2023 penalizing trafficking of children. The Government adds, that between 2003 and 2023, out of 4,666 trafficking cases filed in courts, 2,558 cases involved underaged victims. Among these, there were cases of trafficking for the purpose of prostitution and sexual exploitation, online sexual exploitation of children and child labour. In the same period, the Government indicates that a total of 778 convictions for child trafficking were handed down, involving 4,210 victims.

The Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) the concerns about the widespread trafficking in children that reportedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (CRC/C/PHL/CO/5-6, 26 October 2022, para. 40). The Committee further notes, from the 2023 preliminary observations on the visit to the Philippines by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, that the country remains a source and destination country for child trafficking, sale, sexual exploitation and forced labour and that there is a lack of, or limited information on, the scale of the incidence of child trafficking and how child victims are exploited. While welcoming the efforts of the Government to ensure that child traffickers are prosecuted and convicted, the Committee requests it to pursue its efforts and to continue to provide information on the number of reported violations, investigations, prosecutions and convictions, and to include information on the penal sanctions imposed in cases related to the trafficking of children. It also requests the Government to provide information on any assessment made of the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, including the extent of trafficking in children in the country.

Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Republic Act No. 11188 of 2019 mandates the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) to maintain and improve the database of children in situations of armed conflict and requires the CWC to submit a regular three-year implementation report to the Office of the President and the Congress. The Committee notes however that no information is provided on the content of the database and on how it will be used to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and ensure their rehabilitation. The Committee further takes note of the indication of the Government that the Inter Agency Committee on Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (IAC-CSAC) developed and approved, on 30 September 2020, the Protocol on Handling and Treatment of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict. The Protocol lays down the procedure that government representatives shall observe after obtaining physical custody of a child affected by armed conflict. The Protocol also provides for the reintegration and monitoring of the child with their family and community as a culmination of the rehabilitation process. The Government adds that, to ensure the provision of a holistic response to children in situations of armed conflict, it conducted a series of Nationwide Clustered Orientations, reaching a total of 3,139 child protection actors in the public and private sectors across 17 regions. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) signed a strategic plan to protect children in armed conflict in 2021, in coordination with the United Nations Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting, which includes undertakings, commitments, benchmarks and activities for the AFP to perform and fully comply with its obligations under International Human Rights Law. The Committee also notes that the Government carried out various awareness-raising campaigns, in which children previously affected by armed conflict intervened to share their experience.

The Committee notes, from the report of the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, that there was a decrease in the number of grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict compared with the previous report published in 2020. However, the report identifies the recruitment and use of 11 children (10 boys and 1 girl) attributed to the New People’s Army (NPA), Abu Sayyaf Group and Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group (A/77/895-S/2023/363, 5 June 2023, paras 6 and 300). While taking note of the decrease in the number of children recruited for use in armed conflict and that the AFP appears to no longer recruit children, the Committee nevertheless notes with concern the continued use and recruitment of children by armed groups. It therefore urges the Government to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed groups, including by ensuring that thorough investigations and prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out to facilitate the imposition of sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties in practice. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that children receive the necessary and direct assistance for their removal and rehabilitation and social integration. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in maintaining and improving the database on children in armed conflict, under Republic Act No. 11188, and to indicate how the database is used to ensure that no child is forcibly recruited for use in armed conflict.

Articles 3(b), 7(1) and 7(2)(a) and (b). Use, procuring or offering of children for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances and penalties. Preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, removing them from these worst forms of labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and reintegration. Commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes that Republic Act No. 116481 of 2022 penalizes the hiring, employing, using, persuading, inducing or coercing of a child (defined as a person below the age of 18 years) to perform in obscene exhibitions and indecent shows. In addition, the Government also adopted Republic Act No. 11930 of 2022 which defines unlawful and prohibited acts committed through offline and online platforms and increases the responsibilities and accountabilities of the private sector, such as social media platforms, electronic service providers and internet, and financial intermediaries with relation to child sexual abuse and exploitation. In May 2023, the Government signed the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Republic Act No. 11930. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in coordination with UNICEF established a comprehensive electronic case management system that will provide a simple process of documentation, intervention and collaborative response. The Government indicates that the project is at its initial stage but that the digital Integrated and Electronic Case Management System will be widely used by children and social protection agencies. The Committee further notes, from the concluding observations of the CRC, the launch of the #StopChildPornPh campaign and the launch of the eProtectKids hotline for reporting child sexual material online, such as child pornography. However, the CRC expressed concern over the increase in online sexual exploitation of children, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of efforts to address it, and the low rates of reporting, intervention, investigation, prosecution and conviction in cases of child sexual exploitation (CRC/C/PHL/CO/5-6, paras 22 and 42). While noting that certain awareness raising measures have been undertaken to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children, the Committee once again requests the Government to take immediate and effective time-bound measures to remove child victims of commercial sexual exploitation from this worst form of child labour and to provide for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the results achieved in this regard; (ii) the progress achieved in launching the Integrated and Electronic Case Management System and the results in facilitating the intervention of authorities in cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children; (iii) the results of the eProtectKids hotline, including by providing the number of complaints received and any follow-up action undertaken; and (iv) the application in practice of the Anti-Child Pornography Act and Republic Acts Nos. 11862 and 11930, by indicating the number of reported violations, investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and penal sanctions imposed in cases of child commercial sexual exploitation.

Articles 3(c) and 7(2)(a) and (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs, and time-bound measures. Children engaged in drug trafficking. The Committee notes, from the 2021 Annual Report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that minors continue to be used by drug syndicates. In that year, a total of 599 children, aged 10 to 17 years (52 per cent aged 17 years), were rescued by the PDEA and other law enforcement agencies during drug operations, most of them (433 children) were used for pushing illegal drugs. The report briefly states that these children were turned over to the local social welfare and development offices for proper intervention. Noting the absence of relevant information provided by the Government on the measures taken to address the issue of children engaged in drug trafficking, the Committee requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent children from being engaged in this worst form of child labour and to continue to take measures to rescue them. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to this end, as well as on the measures taken to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of children rescued and those who were provided with direct assistance, as well as on the number of children reached by preventive activities, including by the previously mentioned Standard Training in Extensive Anti-Drug Prevention Education (SK STEP-UP).

Articles 3(d), 4(1), 7(1) and 7(2)(b). Hazardous work, penalties and time-bound measures. Child domestic workers. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that Department Order No. 217 of 2020 requires applicants for a license to operate a private employment agency for domestic workers to submit a notarized affidavit of undertaking stating that they “shall denounce and never support nor engage in any or all acts involving illegal recruitment, trafficking in persons nor any violation of anti-child labour laws”. The Committee notes the Government’s repeated information that there is a Joint Memorandum Circular on the Protocol on the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Abused Kasambahay (domestic worker) but observes that the Government does not provide information on the application in practice of the Protocol or on the implementation of the road map for the elimination of child labour in domestic work. The Committee further notes the Government’s general indication that, between 2018 and 2022, 614,808 child labourers were removed from child labour and received the necessary rehabilitation services, but the Government does not indicate how many of these child labourers were engaged in hazardous working conditions in domestic work. The Committee further notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations, urged the Government to intensify labour inspections and training of investigators, particularly regarding kasambahay (domestic workers) and ensure the imposition of sanctions in case of violation of the legislation (CRC/C/PHL/CO/5-6, 26 October 2022, para. 38(c)). The Committee requests the Government to take all necessary and time-bound measures to protect child domestic workers from the worst forms of child labour, to remove them from such labour and to provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the results achieved, including in the framework of the road map for the elimination of child labour, by indicating the number of child domestic workers who have been protected or withdrawn from child labour and rehabilitated; and (ii) the number and nature of penalties imposed on persons who subject children under 18 years of age to domestic work in hazardous or exploitative conditions, in application of the Domestic Workers Act, 2013.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.