PHILIPPINES: CHILD LABOR UPDATE 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MANILA 003830 SIPDIS DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV ECON ELAB EAID RP ILO SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES: CHILD LABOR UPDATE 2005 REF: A. STATE 143552 ¶B. MANILA 971 ¶C. 04 MANILA 04072 ¶1. (U) Summary and Introduction: This message provides input requested for the Secretary of Labor's annual report to Congress on the implementation of commitments to eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor (ref A). It updates information provided by Post in 2004 (per ref C) regarding child labor laws and regulations in the Philippines, law enforcement capabilities, social programs aimed at prevention, statistics on child labor and child education, and government policies and programs to combat child labor. ¶2. (U) The Philippine government is trying to combat child labor, but it remains a serious problem. Republic Act 9231 (RA 9231),signed by President Arroyo in 2003, has strengthened the existing anti-child labor code. Criminal prosecutions and convictions, however, remain rare. The ILO and NGOs such as World Vision have made progress in identifying children engaged in or at-risk for the worst forms of child labor and mainstreaming them into the educational process. The ILO-managed Philippine Time-Bound Program (PTBP) funded by the U.S. Department of Labor has resulted in more than 6,000 children removed from child labor. Prevention efforts are also in place. ¶3. (U) Sources of information used during the preparation of this update cable included the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),the Bureau of Women and Young Workers in the DOLE, the International Labor Organization, and World Vision. End Summary and Introduction. -------------- Background -------------- ¶4. (U) Estimates of the incidence of child labor vary significantly. The 2000/2001 National Survey on Children (NSC) estimated that as many as four million children aged 5 to 17 years were economically active: 16.2 percent of the total population of children in that age group. Of the four million child workers, an estimated 60 percent or 2.4 million were exposed to hazardous working environments. However, the results of the Labor Force Survey (conducted and published by the National Statistics Office) for October 2004 revealed that about 2.12 million or 9.1 percent of the total 25.21 million children 5 to 17 years old are engaged in economic activities. The number decreased by 5.2 percent from last year's (October 2003) figure of 2.23 million. ¶5. (U) The Philippine government spends approximately 3 percent of its GDP on education. Government support for the education of poor children is provided indirectly through the public school system rather than through targeted subsidies. During the 2002-2003 school year, approximately 19 million elementary and secondary school students were enrolled, a 1.9 percent increase over the previous year's enrollment of 18.64 million. (Note: Statistics on enrollment for school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 are not yet available. End Note.) ¶6. (U) Republic Act 9231: President Arroyo signed Republic Act 9231 in 2003, codifying regulations set forth in the UN Convention of Rights of Children and ILO Convention 182 (ref B). The new law, which gives more muscle to the existing anti-child labor code, has been implemented but has not yet resulted in any prosecutions or convictions (see Para 13). -------------- New and Continuing Initiatives -------------- ¶7. (U) The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) funds several initiatives through the ILO and World Vision to combat child labor in the Philippines (ref B). The key initiatives are: -- ILO-IPEC implementation of Philippine Time-Bound Program (PTBP): This program, started in 2002, supports the Government of Philippine's goal of reducing the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) by 75% by 2015. The project is being implemented in six regions of the Philippines covering eight provinces. The goals of this project are to rescue 44,500 children aged five to 17 years engaged in or at-risk for the worst forms of child labor by 2006 through counseling, education and reintegration with their families. -- Combating Child Soldiers: ILO-IPEC is implementing a program to reduce the incidence of child soldiers, targeting those in Mindanao. ILO-IPEC estimates that at least 2,000 children or minors could be child soldiers in the Philippines. By mid-2005, the project had demobilized 300 children from armed conflict and reintegrated them into mainstream society, and 120 of these minors were enrolled in elementary grades, high school and college, while 180 were given vocational skills training. -- The Training for Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE) Program: The TREE program provides skills training with the aim of creating economic opportunities in Mindanao. ONE of the target groups for this initiative is 14-18 year old youth. By August 2005, a total of 806 beneficiaries had completed community-based training in vocational skills such as welding, tailoring, food processing, pottery making and dressmaking. -- The ABK Education Initiative: Under this initiative, the education component of the PTBP, World Vision, along with a number of NGO partners, is providing transitional education or vocational education programs for working children as well as those identified to be "at-risk". Since the project was implemented in 2003, 24,000 children have been enrolled in formal education and about 200 children have been enrolled in non-formal education and vocational skills training. -- Increasing Public Awareness and Capacities of National and Local Alliances through Program and Policy Advocacies Towards Realization of Time Bound Education Agenda: ILO-IPEC launched this program in May 2005 as part of the regional project "APEC Awareness-Raising Campaign: Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Providing Educational Opportunities." The project aims to engage key stakeholders through national alliances in the development of education materials, and conduct awareness raising activities as well as policy advocacy for education. ¶8. (U) DOLE is also implementing a project, funded by the Geneva-based Elimination of Child Labor in Tobacco Foundation, to reduce the incidence of child labor in tobacco fields in the Ilocos region. As of August 2005, the project has given two-year scholarship grants to 100 children as well as alternative livelihood assistance to their families. -------------- PTBP Projects: Results -------------- ¶9. (U) The significant PTBP Project achievements through August 2005 are: -- Baseline surveys have been completed in the eight targeted provinces. The listings have identified more than 38,000 children (by name) working and at risk of working in the six worst forms of child labor. The listings have now been forwarded to World Vision for use in the ABK/Educational Initiative project. -- According to the PTBP, 6,135 children have been withdrawn and prevented from engaging in the six priority WFCL sectors. ILO-IPEC, through its partner organizations, has provided them with psychosocial counseling, temporary shelter (and eventual referral to the Department of Social Welfare and Development) and basic HEALTH services, repatriation assistance, vocational training, and help in preparing for schooling. The parents of these children were also given support in livelihood activities to remove the compulsion to send them to work. -- An action program was launched in May 2004 in collaboration with the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) to target 3,000 children in the domestic labor pool and mainstream them into formal or non-formal education. By July 2005, the VFF had enrolled 1,623 child domestic laborers in the formal and non-formal education systems and provided non-education services, such as counseling, repatriation, legal and medical assistance to 1,019 children working or at-risk of working as domestic laborers. -------------- Government Action -------------- ¶10. (U) DOLE participated in a number of programs and activities to mark the 2005 World Day Against Child Labor (WDACL) on 12 June, including: -- The launch in Cebu City of the ONE million signature campaign for &Batas Basambahay,8 proposed legislation that aims to institutionalize protections for domestic workers, both adult and child. -- A three-day radio program sponsored by the Archbishop Mabutas Media Center in Davao. ¶11. (U) The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) serves as the steering committee for the National Policy of Action on Child Labor (NPACL) framework. The NCLC, in partnership with the ILO, held a "National Forum on Child Labor and Mining in the Philippines" to mark the 2005 WDACL. Relevant government agencies, workers organizations, employers groups and the social partners of NPACL participated in the forum, which presented the findings of a study on children in mining in Camarines Norte and the actions taken by NGOs and local government agencies to address the problem of child labor. DOLE, the Trade Union Congress, the Federation of Free Workers, and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines endorsed the ILO call to eliminate child labor in the mining and quarrying industries by 2015. ¶12. (U) DOLE leads the interagency "Sagip Batang Manggagawa" (Rescue the Child Workers, or SBM) program, which rescued 1,440 child labor victims from 2001-2003. In 2004, SBM conducted 73 operations involving 195 minors. From January to June 2005, SBM conducted 24 operations involving 71 minors. The rescued minors were handed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for rehabilitation and reintegration. ¶13. (U) Thus far in 2005, DOLE has ordered the closure of two establishments, allegedly engaged in offering minors for prostitution, for violating RA 9231 (see below for further information on the child sex trade). However, the cases are still under preliminary investigation. Prosecutions and convictions for child labor continue to be limited. Since 1995, only four people have been convicted of violating the child labor law. There are seven pending child labor cases in Metro Manila, but there have been no convictions in 2005. (Note: The Bureau of Women and Young Workers in DOLE admits that its available data may be incomplete due to a lack of statistics from the provinces. End Note.) -------------- Child Prostitution: Little Progress -------------- ¶14. (U) Child prostitution -- ONE of the six WFCL -- is a serious problem, driven by the Philippines' popularity as a destination for sex tourists as well as economic and demographic conditions. UNICEF and local NGOs estimate that 60,000 to 100,000 children work in the commercial sex industry. Most of these children are girls, and they come from very poor families with unemployed or irregularly employed parents. Girls aged 7 to 16 years old are victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. There were no convictions under the 2003 anti-trafficking law during the past year. DSWD estimates that the annual increase in prostituted children averages more than 3,200. ¶15. (U) Although the Department of Labor and Employment has no separate program to curb the problem of child sex workers, minors rescued from prostitution dens are referred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for basic social services such as counseling, medical services, temporary shelter and repatriation. NGOs such as Virlanie Foundation, End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT) and the People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance (PREDA) Foundation Inc. complement government and ILO-IPEC efforts by offering counseling services, training, housing, and provision of formal and non-formal education to rescued child sex workers. See Post's annual Anti-Trafficking in Persons report (ref B) for further information on the problem of child trafficking. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶16. (U) Overall, the Philippine government is trying to combat child labor, but it remains a serious problem. The PTBP target of rescuing 44,500 working and at-risk children by 2006 is measurable and within reach. While RA 9231 has strengthened and criminalized many elements of child labor, full implementation of this law faces the same challenges as other social legislation: limited awareness and training in the new law; low numbers of law enforcement and Department of Justice (DOJ) resources; a lack of focus on enforcement; and a lengthy prosecution process. The continuing challenge is to translate existing laws into increased prosecutions and convictions in order to catch perpetrators and deter future violations of international norms and Philippine law, as well as alleviate the underlying economic and social conditions that perpetuate child labor. JOHNSON