World Day vs.

child labor focuses on child trafficking

June 11, 2003

For the second year in a row, the Philippines will mark World Day Against Child
Labor on June 12, the same day the country commemorates its 105th
Independence Day, with a heightened sense of awareness and urgency: child
labor, particularly its worst forms, is a social cancer that must be licked.

Department of Labor and Employment Acting Secretary Manuel G. Imson

emphasized this yesterday as he revealed that this year's World Day Against
Child Labor celebration will focus on child trafficking, widely recognized as a
distinct and egregious violation of children's rights and one of the worst forms of
child labor.

"The trafficking of children is not new," Imson said. "It has existed for many years
and continues to grow across all continents and cultures. Nearly all countries are
affected in some way, either as sending, receiving or transit countries for
trafficked children," he added.

The first World Day Against Child Labor was marked on June 12 last year after
the historic adoption in 1999 of the International Labor Organization (ILO)
Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor by the delegates to the 87th
International Labor Conference in Geneva.

As a signatory to the convention, the Philippines is committed to take immediate,

effective and time-bound measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of
the worst forms of child labor. To fulfill this commitment, it is undertaking a
Philippine Time-Bound Program (PTBP) anchored on the vision of the National
Program Against Child Labor (NPACL).

The DOLE is the lead government agency mobilizing and coordinating

partnership arrangements and support for the implementation of the NPACL and
the PTBP.

Its agency, the Bureau of Women and Young Workers, is spearheading a series
of activities on June 11 and 12, with the support of the ILO International
Programme in the Elimination of Child Labor, to celebrate World Day Against
Child Labor.

One of the highlights of the celebration is the "Town Hall Meeting", a concept
where child laborers will be gathered in one place to have a dialogue with key
leaders from government workers organizations and employers' association on
child labor issues and concerns.

The Town Hall Meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on June 11 at
the Museo Pambata on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, and will feature a medical
mission, parlor games, photo exhibit, and a press conference where the following
officials and personalities involved in the war against child labor have been
invited: Secretaries Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, Corazon Juliano Soliman and
Edilberto C. De Jesus, Senators Luisa "Loi" P. Ejercito, Ramon Magsaysay Jr.,
Loren Legarda-Leviste, and Francis Pangilinan, Representatives Bellaflor
Angara-Castillo, Consuelo A. Dy, Julio Ledesma IV, and Imee Marcos, ILO
Country Director Werner Konrad Blenk, ILO Deputy Director Carmela I. Torres,
 UNICEF Country Representative Terrel Hill, ECOP President Donald Dee and
TUCP President Democrito Mendoza.

On June 12, some 200 child laborers and child advocates will represent the
NAPCL in the Independence Day parade with the contingent of the DOLE, the
National Child Labor Committee, ILO and the National Monitoring Team.

The children will bear two giant puppets (higantes) representing two worst forms
of child labor. With the help of puppet bearers, the higantes will simulate walking
that symbolizes the strong determination to eliminate child labor and all its worst
forms.

As the focus of this year's World Day Against Child Labor celebration, Acting
Secretary Imson said the trafficking of vulnerable children and young people is an
intolerable violation of their rights to protection from exploitation, to play, to an
education, to health and to family life.

"Child trafficking is a crime under international law," he said.

Child labor remains a pervasive problem in the Philippines. The national statistics
survey on children in 2001 placed an estimated four million of the total 25 million
children aged five (5) to seventeen (17) years old as child laborers, while about
60 percent or 2.4 million are exposed to hazardous work.

"We must work together - very quickly and hard - to put a stop to this anomaly,"
Imson said.

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.

Working Children, Ages 5-17 (1995-1997)

Initiating and Mobilizing Action Against Child Labor in the Philippines

The Philippines is literally a young nation with a high percentage of young people in its
overall population. Children between ages 5-17 number 22.4 million, comprising a third of
the overall Philippine population. Working children from 16% of the overall population of
children between ages 5-7. That means that one out of six children work.

Economic Sector Occupational Group

• In the last 12 months, 3.7 million children of ages 5-17 worked. These children are
predominantly from rural households (67.1%). Almost half (49%) are between ages 5-14.
• In the last week, 2.85 million children between ages 5-17 worked. Of this number, half
are between ages 5-14, consisting of approximately 1.4 million children.
• Working children consist largely of boys (65%) rather than girls.
• 60% are in unpaid family work in their own households, 17.2% work in their own homes;
53% work in family farms.

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.

Unofficial Summary :The child has the right to be protected from work that threatens his or her
health, education or development. The State shall set minimum ages for employment and
regulate working conditions.

A Comparison of Article 32 to the Natural 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.