THE PHILIPPINES – CHILD PROTECTION IN EMERGENCIES DESK REVIEW, 2012

1. DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS

Population 92.34 million ChildrenUnder 5

42.1%11.1%

Human Development Index

112 Life expectancyBirth registration

68.783%

Fertility rate 3.14 HIV/AIDS <0.1%Maternal Mortality rate

160 per 100,000 live births

Literacy rateMale FemaleX X

Under 5 mortality rate

30 per 1,000 live births

Gross primary school enrolment

X X

Infant mortality rate 22 per 1,000 live births

Primary completion rate

X X

Underweight 22% Net primary school enrolment

X X

Access to drinking water

90.1% Out of school children

X X

Access to improved sanitation

65.8% Drop-out rate X X

2. OVERVIEW

The Philippines is a South-East Asian socio-politically stable, lower-middle-income and culturally diverse archipelago of 7,107 islands with a population of 92.34 million1, 20 per cent of which are youth (15 to 24 years old) and 42.1 per cent, children (below 18).

Framed within a presidential form of government, law-making is vested in a bicameral Congress2. In July 2010, a new democratically elected Administration led by current president Benigno S. Aquino III initiated a series of reforms articulated in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016, which embodies the ‘Social Contract with the Filipino People’ and prioritizes the achievement of inclusive growth and poverty reduction emerging from (i) transparent and accountable governance; (iii) a booming economy through public infrastructure, strategic public-private partnerships and policy environment for greater investments; (iii) the upliftment and empowerment of the poor and vulnerable through initiatives like the flagship Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program for the X.X million poor households and its pilot version for Families in Need of Special Protection; and (iv) the enabling of sustainable development initiatives through peace, justice security, integrity of natural resources and gender equality3.

Building on the PDP objectives, strategies and targets, the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) recently launched the Second National Plan of Action for Children 2012-2016, which sets the agenda towards the progressive realization of the rights of Filipino children based on a results-based and equity focused three-pronged approach to serve efficiently the most disadvantaged: enabling a better quality of life for them and for their mothers, ensuring they are safe and free, thereupon, protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, and encouraging their participation in decision-making processes affecting their lives4.

2012 third quarter’s 7.1% economic growth and 6% per year since 2005 may draw optimistic perspectives about the future, but more than 20% of the population live in extreme poverty (with less than 1.25 US dollars a day), the national Human Development Index position is still 112nd position out of 187 and structural problems continue jeopardizing potential gains. Moreover, inequality remains high, as indicated by a Gini coefficient of 0.44, and regional disparities have increased due to corruption, a pattern of growth led by the private sector, low revenue base, corruption and low investment in social sectors (less than 4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product or GDP).

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) estimated that 40.8 percent of children live in poverty in 20095, and specified that poverty is highest among children of fisher-folk, farmers, migrants and informal sector workers, worse in rural than in urban areas on a percentage basis but with greater disparities in cities. Children actually constitute the largest social group in poverty, at 14.8 million. In general, the trends in child development indicators6 can be characterized by increasing inequality and deprivation that is found most deeply rooted in easily identifiable geographic clusters and social groupings. The bottlenecks to mitigating these are primarily political, with elite capture and corruption the most visible constraints7. Other phenomena setting greatly impact on children are the frequent occurrence of natural disasters as a result of climate change and geo-physical characteristics of the archipelago; rapid urbanization; the continuing ethnic conflict in Mindanao; the traditional culture that had deeply embedded social and gender disparities; a political system at both national and local levels that is heavily influenced by feudal, dynastic power dynamics; and a ‘crony capitalism’ approach to business that undermines broad-based growth, leading to one of the world’s largest diaspora of educated workers who are unable to find suitable careers at home (including many mothers who’ve left an estimated total of 9 million boys and girls behind while abroad).

The country is on track in pursuing the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction, gender equality, child health, control of diseases like malaria and sanitation. However, it lags behind in attaining universal primary education, reducing maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS, which reflects critical investment gaps, and high rates of neonatal mortality and malnutrition are worrying (with a stunting rate of 28 per cent, the Philippines accounts for 90 per cent of all children in this situation worldwide).

Rapid growth of the population (around 2% annual) outstrips the nation’s ability to provide basic services to all. It’s originated by the difficulties to access family planning information and contraceptives by the ones with least resources, among other factors, has and it has exacerbated poverty, fuelled urban settings’ challenges, overseas labor migration and unprecedented environmental degradation, seriously compromising progress. The recently passed Reproductive Health Bill might change dynamics, though.

The Constitution and the Local Government Unit (LGU) Code of 1991 enabled a highly decentralized system consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, which altogether configure an effective institutional mechanism to deliver social services and address inequity. The policy environment is amenable to influence by civil society, which is represented by a rich mix of non-governmental organizations including faith-based institutions. The private sector is strong, and social responsibility and individual giving are significant strengths that can be harnessed to realize child rights8.

REGION XI:

Davao Region is composed of 4 provinces (Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur), 1 highly-urbanized city, 5 component cities and 43 municipalities divided into 1,162 barangays in 11 congressional districts with a 4,468,563 inhabitants in 2010. Poverty incidence of families or the proportion of families with per capita income fell to 25.6% in 2009, the lowest in Mindanao. Although the economy is agriculture-based, the services sector including trade contributes the biggest to its growth, followed by the industry sector. The overall erratic performance of the region at this level is attributed to its less competitive industries, relatively poor human capital and low resilience to disasters, climate change, and conflict, factors which are mainly caused by poor governance in many sectors9.

REGION XIII:

The Caraga Administrative Region was created through Republic Act 7901 as approved by President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995. It is composed of five provinces:10 Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, and the newly created Dinagat Province; three cities: Butuan, Surigao and Bislig; 70 municipalities and 1,310 barangays. With a total land area of 1,884,697 hectares, iIt’s the second largest region in Mindanao and a home to more than 2 million people. Its poverty incidence is beyond 39.8 percent, way above the national percentageaverage?, and there are many challenges related to social welfare and development like the cases of juvenile justice, abused, neglected, orphaned and abandoned children; increased number of persons with disabilities; abused women; and the need to uphold development efforts for senior citizens. The implementation of the Pantyawid Pamilyang Program, KALAHI-CIDSS and PODER Projects, the Self-Employment Assistance and the Tinadahan Natin Programs, which espoused people empowerment help alleviate poverty in this side of the country, and the Comprehensive Pilot Intervention Plan against Gender Violence or CoPIPAGV, Food for School, Healthy Start Feeding Program and other initiatives and services are also being contributing to improve people’s live conditions11.

3. EMERGENCY PROFILE

The humanitarian landscape of the Philippines is complex in the number and range of emergencies and in the scope of related needs, especially in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (which will eventually become ‘The Bangsamoro’). Response interventions by all actors there should hence continue to address both the chronic, prolonged crises related to insecurity, limited access to basic services and poor infrastructures as well as a number of events of more traditional quick onsets including damages resulting from seasonal floods, droughts and typhoons or movements of people because of armed clashes.

Conflict: Two of the world’s longest-running armed conflicts affect the country, the Moro and communist insurgencies12, which affects millions of people nationwide:

o In Mindanao, the 4-decade-long tensions between the Government and non-State groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and clan feuds have led to cyclical civilian displacements, undermining livelihoods and welfare conditions of affected populations in terms of health, nutrition and education, but last October the peace talks derived in the signing of a ‘Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro’ which will pave the way for a non-violent scenario in the medium term. The islamist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), which is linked to Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, and rogue factions such as Abdullah Macapaar ‘Bravo’ and Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian, as well as Ameril Umbra Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) still pose a terrorist threat, though, and there are also paramilitary forces linked to the insurgency and counter-insurgency operations (i.e. Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGU) and Civilian Volunteers Organizations (CVO). Election-related violence in the area is common, and so is the lack of respect for the rule of law and kidnap-for-ransom gangs.

o The New People’s Army (NPA) has carried out a country-wide guerrilla campaign since 1968. These days, it continues to operate in rural areas with an estimated 4,111 members while their founder, former literature professor Jose Maria Sison, and other senior leaders live in exile in the Netherlands. Formal peace talks resumed in Oslo in February 201113.

MILF, NPA and ASG have been named as parties to the conflict that have been involved in recruiting and using children in armed conflict, and other grave violations against children continue to be perpetrated by all parties (more details on page X).

Disaster: The Philippines ranked third in the list of countries with highest proneness to calamities triggered by natural hazards in the 2012 World Disaster, with 74% of the population vulnerable to those calamities. It lies along the so-called typhoon belt facing the Pacific Ocean (15 to 20 a year, 5 of them usually destructive), makes part of the north-western fringes of the ‘Ring of Fire’, with frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and the rising weather turbulence and prolonged droughts and flooding likely from climate change augment risks towards agricultural production, food security and vector-borne diseases. Severely affected by climate change, the above vulnerabilities get multiplied by uncontrolled settlement in areas at risk, high poverty rates, lack of adherence to building codes and degradation of coastal resources and forests including illegal logging.

o In 2009, tropical cyclones ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’ affected 9.3 million people, resulting in losses estimated at 2.7 per cent of GDP. In 2010, 202 natural and human-induced disasters killed 239 people, affected 6.75 million and caused over Php 25 billion in economic damages, while in 2011 431 disasters -especially tropical storm Sendong- killed 1,774 people, affected 15.3 million and caused over Php 26 billion losses14. As of 26 December 2012, the estimated losses caused by typhoon Bopha, which affected around 6.2 million people including 2.6 million children, had reached more than US$947 million.

Children contribute least to climate change but, because of their vulnerabilities, they are the worst affected by its shocks, particularly in drought-, flood- and cyclone-prone rural areas and urban slums. Children’s experiences of climate change and disasters naturally differ from those of adults, yet these are rarely considered in discussions of solutions, or if not, lack funding and institutional support as well as strategic implementation in the Philippines. Although climate change may actually be viewed as one of the major constraints to meeting the MDGs, children’s issues are not yet well recognized or incorporated in the environmental agenda, which must also be responsive to their needs towards better adaptation and resilience.

4. LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The 2005 and 2009 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the Philippine Periodic Reports on CRC implementation confirmed that the Philippines has a fairly strong legal basis for child protection but lack of consistent and effective enforcement of laws. Plus, legal and judicial remedies alone aren’t enough to effectively address the underlying and root causes of child abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect.

International instruments ratified by the Philippines15:

TITLE YEAR OF ADHERENC

E

TITLE YEAR OF ADHERENCE

Geneva Conventions I-IV 1952 CEDAW 1981ICERD 1974 Refugee Convention 1981ICCPR 1986 Refugee Protocol 1981ICESCR 1967 ILO Convention 138 1998UN CAT 1987 ILO Convention 182 2000UN CRC 1990 ILO Convention 189 2012UN CRC Protocol 1 2002 CRPD 2008UN CRC Protocol 2 2003 Rome Statue of the ICC 2011

At the national level, the basic premise for upholding the rights of children is enshrined in the Constitution, which states that the Government must ensure “the right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.” The Child and Youth Welfare Code or Presidential Decree 603 of 1974 defined the rights and responsibilities of children and the corresponding authority and obligation towards them by their parents, the community, and the government and other duty bearers. Later on, together with the international instruments cited above, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its localized version (‘Magna Carta of Women’ or Republic Act 9710, passed in 2009), the state policy recognizing children’s right to special protection was translated into various laws including (but not limited to) the following: RA 7610 or the Child Protection Act of 1992, RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, RA 9231 or an Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, RA 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004, RA 9344 or the Comprehensive Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 and RA 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

The overarching long-term development framework on children is the Philippine National Strategic Framework for Plan Development for Children 2000-2025 or ‘Child 21’, which serves as blueprint for government agencies, LGUs and CSO/NGOs in planning measures, interventions and budget appropriations. Its vision is translated into clear, actionable and time-bound plans in multiple-year time frames towards disparity reduction concretized in the National Plans of Action for Children. CWC just launched the second one, consistent with the PDP and valid until 2016 too. As a companion document to it, the Committee for the Special Protection of Children (CSPC) launched the 3rd Comprehensive Plan on Child Protection (CPCP) 2012-2016 last March, with its major emphasis on building and strengthening a multi-level child protection system which is caring and protective of children who are at risk, disadvantaged and vulnerable to abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.

5. CHILD PROTECTION INDICATORS

- Definition of child: 18- Minimum age for work: 15- Minimum age for criminal liability: 12- Minimum age of sexual consent: 12- Minimum age of marriage: 18 (Code of Muslim Personal Laws: 15)

Unregistered children 2.6 millionChildren without parental care and at risk of losing parental care

4-6 million

Working children 4.1 millionTrafficked childrenProstituted children 60,000 to 100,000Children in pornography

Child victims of violence, physical and sexual abuse 8,000Children living or working on the streets 246,000Children and young people in drugs and substance abuse 3.4 millionChildren in conflict with the law 10,000Children in situations of emergency- Armed conflict- Natural disasters

50,000 displaced annually190,000 annually

Children with disabilities 192,000Unregistered children 2.6 millionChildren belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples 5-7 millionChildren living in poverty 14.9 million

6. CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM

Development and humanitarian actors have often targeted prevention and responses at a particular vulnerable group, such as children associated with armed forces or groups. Nevertheless, there is increasing interest in reframing child protection work by looking more broadly at the deficits in the protection available to all children and addressing the structural causes of those gaps in both prevention and response at those violations of children’s right to protection – in other words, building and strengthening child protection systems16.

The Philippines has yet to put in place an operational multi-level child protection system from barangay to city, municipal, provincial, regional and national level coordinated by the Council for the Welfare of Children to address in a more efficient manner the various cases of abuse, violence and exploitation committed against children, but there are already existing structures which when linked together can provide such services17.

Functions:

- establishing an improved database, monitoring and reporting system- initiating collective awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns- coordinating technical support networks to assist the work of implementing

agencies- developing enhanced policies and standards on the care and protection of

children particularly those in situations of abuse, exploitation and violence

Structure:

Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children (BCPCs) are the primary body at the grassroots level that can address issues of child abuse, violence and exploitation, tasked to come up with a master-list and database on children, situation assessment and analysis on children, an action plan for children with corresponding budget, local ordinances on children, a monitoring and reporting system on children and the annual state of the barangay children report ensuring children’s organizations involvement at all stages. Constituting the base of and the first layer in the protection system, active and functional BCPCs in the more than 42,000 barangays nationwide spell a big difference in all child rights promotion and child protection efforts. The following elements contribute to making BCPCs work: presence of committed champions for children, sustained community organizing process, proactive LGUs and organized and meaningful participation of children.

City, Municipal and Provincial Councils for the Protection of Children constitute the second layer in the multi-level child protection system (LCPCs). They are the main sources of support to the BCPCs in terms of financial, material, human and technical assistance. They can spearhead activities such as advocacy and social mobilization,

situation analysis, program development, modeling of innovative strategies, partnering and alliance building, monitoring and impact assessment of interventions and annual reporting on the situation and progress of children at city, municipal and provincial levels. Under the leadership of local chief executives, and with the technical management and coordination of LGU social welfare officers, the city, municipal and provincial councils for the protection of children should push for a faster process of organizing, strengthening and sustaining the BCPCs.

Regional Sub-Committees for the Welfare of Children (RCWC) are the third layer in the multi-level child protection system, being a sub-committee of the Regional Development Council. They assist the city, municipal, and provincial councils for the protection of children in advocacy and programming efforts on child rights promotion and child protection, and are critical in regional advocacy, resource mobilization, capacity building and technical support, partnership building and networking and coordination and monitoring of initiatives.

Council for the Welfare of Children is the government body mandated by law to coordinate and monitor implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Child 21, the National Plans of Action for Children and the Comprehensive Program on Child Protection, providing policy guidance on all children’s concerns including child protection. There are many sectoral Inter-Agency Councils within its umbrella, as well as Committees and Sub-Committees within its umbrella including the one on Children in Need of Special Protection. There is, though, a need to strengthen the vertical linkages between and among CWC RCWCs and LCPCs at different levels, as the flow of communication, coordination, collaboration and monitoring and reporting across levels needs improvement.

To augment efforts of the local councils for the protection of children and the BCPCs, other viable community level mechanisms for child protection can be explored. Existing people’s, community-based and faith-based organizations that have continuing grassroots presence and are pro-children in orientation can become reliable partners in child protection.

Data collection

In the 2009 Concluding Observations to the 3rd and 4th periodic reports of the Philippines on the Implementation of the CRC, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child acknowledged the country’s efforts to improve its data collection system and welcomes, in particular, the development by the CWC of the Subaybay Bata Monitoring System (SBMS), linked to the major national government agencies, the development of 143 indicators for the seven major clusters of child rights, as well as the publication of Annual State of the Filipino Children Reports. However, the Committee reiterated its concern at the lack of disaggregated data by region, gender and age and at the insufficient data on children in need of special protection, especially on children living in extreme poverty, abused and neglected children, children in conflict with the law and children belonging to minorities and indigenous groups. The Committee encouraged the Philippines to improve the system, and recommended that the Annual State of the Filipino Children Report is widely disseminated and accessible.

Justice system

Effective coordination among the pillars of the justice (I – THE COMMUNITY; II – THE LAW ENFORCEMENT; III – THE PROSECUTION; IV – THE COURTS; and V – CORRECTIONS) system will ensure the provision of care and protection for all children, particularly those in need of special protection. One concrete way for doing that is through the consistent implementation of and compliance to the Protocols for Case Management of Child Victims of Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation, which need to be popularized and widely disseminated to all concerned agencies and pillars. An important feature of the protocols is that it

is applicable to all child protection interagency committees (CP-IACs) with some adjustments to more specific cases of CNSP. Executive Order No. 53, Series of 2011 has enjoined the CSPC to strengthen its focus on legal and judicial protection measures for and on behalf of Filipino children in need of special protection, and improved capacity and better coordination among the pillars of justice in responding to all cases of child abuse are preconditions to effective legal and judicial protection efforts of the CSPC and all other CP-IACs.

Budget allocation

Budgetary allocations for children’s social services, health services and education in terms of percentage of the national budget don’t seem to have substantially augmented over the last years, and in 2009 the UN CRC reiterated its deep concern at the fact that the Philippines was increasingly allocating more than 30 per cent of its national budget to debt service-interest payment as well as at the negative impact corruption may have on the allocation of already limited resources to effectively improve the promotion and protection of child rights.

Moving forward in ensuring transparent and participatory budgeting through public dialogue and participation, especially of children and for proper accountability by local authorities, in 2012 the Philippine Government reintroduced the Bottom-Up Budgeting process to amplify the voice of the grassroots in the allocation and management of public funds, as well as to promote a greater sense of understanding and ownership of the budgeting process among the public. On that note, the Administration had also piloted a process of Participatory Budget Preparation, which required the collaboration of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), as well as the National Food Authority (NFA), National Housing Authority (NHA) and the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation to partner with civil society organizations in assessing the impact of their programs on the ground to see what works and what does not18.

There’s, though, still a need to implement a tracking system for the allocation and use of resources for children throughout the budget, thus providing visibility to the investment on children, ensuring that the differential impact of such investment on girls and boys is measured. And there’s also a need to define strategic budgetary lines for disadvantaged or particularly vulnerable children and for those situations that may require affirmative social measures (such as birth registration) and make sure that those budgetary lines are protected even in situations of economic crisis, natural disasters or other emergencies19.

With regard to child protection, except for child-focused NGOs such as CPU-Net and ECPAT (approximately 6 million pesos of yearly budget), agencies of the Committee for the Special Protection of Children (CSPC) find it difficult to show how much budget and other resources they’ve allocated for that. DOJ has separate budget for the CSPC annual plan of action amounting to around 1 million pesos, though. The Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) reportedly allocates 5% of WINAP (sorry, but I didn’t find the meaning of this acronym in the original document nor Google) funds for child labor initiatives, and the Commission on Human Rights maintains a Child Rights Center with a budget of 700,000 pesos a year. The rest have lumped their allocations with broader programs as in the case of DOH, DILG, PNP and DSWD (although the department reported an allocation of 15 million pesos in 2010 for center-based programs which include services for children in need of special protection).

Humanitarian action

In the Philippines the cluster approach was introduced to respond to the floods in 200620, when the Government requested international assistance following the massive destruction caused by typhoon Reming in South-Eastern Luzon, where mudslides buried several villages along the periphery of Mayon volcano. The system and its principles of predictability, accountability, inclusivity and partnership in all sectors or areas of activity were institutionalized in the Philippine Disaster Management System in 200721, so as to improve humanitarian response by clearly designating lead organizations to establish coordination mechanisms, act as providers of last resort and ensure the complementarity of responses, adequate resources to support the work of the Cluster, links with other sectors, ensure attention to cross‐cutting issues. Child Protection is a sub-cluster of the Protection Cluster, globally led by the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG). In the country, it’s established in Manila, chaired by DSWD and co-chaired by UNICEF, and it aims at bringing together in one forum child protection actors and partners operational in areas affected by both natural and human induced disasters to address the impacts of emergencies.

Main responsibilities22:

o Child protection programming

Analyze trends and the principal risks faced by children in the context of the emergency, both in evacuation centers and in affected communities. Undertake and maintain a mapping of child protection actors and their programmatic and geographic reach, assess the adequacy of ongoing programmes, and identify and develop strategies to meet gaps. Develop appropriate programme strategy, as necessary, to address protection and psychosocial needs of affected children.

o Coordination of child protection response

Provide relevant inputs to national and regional emergency plans and coordinate linkage with regional and local CP and disaster risk and management mechanisms.

o Advocacy

Develop an advocacy strategy for issues related to child protection that require sensitization of local authorities and humanitarian actors. This will include, where relevant, raising issues of concern to Child Protection with other relevant Clusters.

o Coordination of humanitarian funding mechanisms

Coordinate relevant inputs to the Humanitarian Action Plan and the mobilization of resources through humanitarian funding mechanisms such as Flash Appeals, Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP), Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), etc.

7. SUMMARY OF PROTECTION ISSUES LINKED TO TYPHOON PABLO

MINIMUM STANDARD 12:

CHILD LABOUR

PRE-EMERGENCYSITUATION

The incidence of child labor is fairly high and increasing, affecting more males than females. According to the 2011 Survey on Children conducted by NSO and ILO23, out of the 29 million children from 5 to 17 years old:

- Working children (5 to 17 year olds who worked even for only one hour during the past 12 months): 18.9% (3,287,651 boys, 2,204,616 girls).

o Child labor (working children who reported to have worked in hazardous industries and occupations and worked for long hours and/or at night (in industries and occupations not designated as hazardous)24: 55%

Children in hazardous labor: 98.9% (2,993,000: 1,999,000 boys, 994,000 girls). Agriculture: 62.4% (67.9 boys, 51.2 girls); industry: 7.6% (8.7 boys, 5.2 girls); services: 30.1% (23.3 boys, 43.6 girls).

- Region XI: 114,000- Region XIII: 90,000

Children in hazardous labor in Mindanao are usually found in sugarcane, tobacco, banana, corn flower, coconut and rice plantations, pyrotechnics production, deep-sea fishing, mining and quarrying. Children living on the streets in urban settings often engage in scavenging and begging, some are victims of the commercial sex industry and others also work in the drug trade as packers, cleaners of paraphernalia, lookouts and as runners25.

- Region XI: the “continued presence of factors that lead to child

PREVENTIVE AND RESPONSE FRAMEWORK

The Philippines is a signatory to many international laws and declarations related to child labor, including ILO Convention 138, which sets 16 as the minimum age for employment and was localized in 1993 through Republic Act 7658 (‘An Act Prohibiting The Employment Of Children Below 15 Years Of Age In Public And Private Undertakings’, which set the minimum age at 15), ILO Convention 182, which prohibits the worst forms of child labor and was localized through Republic Act 9231 of 2003 (‘An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of ChildLabor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child’) and ILO Convention 189 on domestic work. The Philippine Program Against Child Labour remains to be the strategic framework and backbone of national interventions and efforts in harnessing actions for eliminating the worst forms of child labour and transforming the lives of child labourers, their families and communities. It’s led by DOLE – Bureau of Women and Young Workers, with institutional mechanisms at different levels: the National Child Labor

labor”26 (i.e. poverty and lack of alternative means of livelihood) explain the high number of children engaged in domestic work, scavenging, mining (Pandukan in Compostela Valley), commercial sexual exploitation (Davao City) and sugar cane (Hagonoy and Kiblawan), copra, rubber, mango, banana and corn plantations, among other hazardous jobs.

- Region XIII: a research done by the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) in 2011-2012 revealed that at least 24 percent of workers in palm-oil plantations in Caraga are minors, even as young as five years old. They work an average of 12 hours a day, and jobs assigned to them could be very physically demanding, such as hauling a 15-kg to 50-kg palm fruit bunch and load it to the truck. Among the factors that contribute to the presence of child labor in palm-oil plantation are low access of their family members to employment, depressed wages and the casual status of most adult workers even if they have worked in the plantations for as long as 30 years.

TRAFFICKING

The magnitude of the problem is unknown because of its clandestine nature, the confusion between trafficking and smuggling, its correlation with internal and cross‐border migration and the methodological challenges associated with collecting accurate data27. DSWD records show that only a few hundreds of cases are served annually (a total of 806 in 2006-2007, for instance28) but NGOs estimate that thousands of Philippine children are trafficked every year29. Mindanao is a known source of the phenomenon due to multiple vulnerabilities linked to poverty and conflict, and a study by ECPAT confirmed that victims are predominantly 14 to 17 years old girls, some of which get trafficked from rural areas to major cities of the island and the rest of the archipelago, while others are transported abroad to work in factories, prostitution, drug trafficking, domestic service and informal sector activities in Japan, Malaysia, Korea and Saudi Arabia as top destinations worldwide.

Committee, Regional Child Labor Committees and local Programme Implementation Committees. Sagip Batang Manggagawa (SBM) is the inter-agency quick action mechanism to respond to child labour in most abject conditions. The SBM Quick Action Teams are composed of DOLE, the PNP, NBI, DSWD and other social partners who provide immediate assistance to rescued child labour victims.

TRAFFICKING

Having ratified the UN Convention Against TransnationalCrime and the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women andChildren, among other international instruments, in 2003 the Philippines enacted into law the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (Republic Act 9208). Its section 20 created the Inter-AgencyCouncil Against Trafficking (IACAT), which is mandated to formulate programs to prevent trafficking, promulgate rules and regulations to implement the law, monitor its strict implementation and coordinate inter-agency projects and task forces. Chaired by DOJ and co-chaired by DSWD, its other members are CWC, PCW, PNP, BI, POEA, DOLE and DFA, which have specific duties in this field including prevention using

In 2011, the Philippines was removed from the Tier 2 Watchlist of the US State Department’s Global Trafficking in Persons (GTIP) Report, although significant challenges remain, especially in humanitarian settings. Only 100 persons have been convicted from 2005 to 201230.

The Second National Strategic Action Plan Against Trafficking In Persons 2011-201631 has just been released, and it seeks to further strengthen the Quick Reaction Team and capacity building of prosecutors designated to handle trafficking in persons cases, immigration officers, foreign services officers, labour inspectors and other related personnel, with emphasized attention to children’s issues. Some of the challenges highlighted are the need for the establishment of a comprehensive and functional mechanism for data collection and consolidation as well as a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework.

- Region XI: Davao city is being used as a transit and exit point for victims from the province that typically end up in the Middle East subjected to labor and sexual exploitation; from January to November 59 of these cases of 14 to 17 year old children were reported32. Illegal operation of traffickers in the airport is being monitored, but movement was designed to deflect attention. The RIACAT alerts that traffickers no longer accompany their victims and that these no longer go in groups. They ride the airplane individually and maintain contact with their trafficker through mobile phones, “so you would not see who is with whom.” Cracking down would-be victims being sent abroad is now easier because the victims have to pass through the stringent procedures of the Bureau of Immigration. Domestic trafficking, however, has become more difficult to spot because the victims are told to check-in and board the plane late to evade strict screening of identification documents and tickets, and to avoid mingling with other passengers at the pre-departure area. Myrna Dadang, Sidlakan Women Crisis Center head, affirms most victims of human trafficking come from far-flung areas where opportunities are lacking.

advocacy, information and education on women’s and children’s rights among policy makers and communities. Other Government agencies with particular roles in this field are TESDA, PIA, CWC, OWWA, PCTC, NBI, CHR, DOTC, DOH and DepEd33.

At the local level (region, province, city & municipality), the IACAT works under corresponding entities: RIACAT, PIACAT, CIACAT, MIACAT-VAWCs, although they’re not in place nationwide (currently operating in Region XI and XIII). The LGUs monitor and document cases of trafficking in persons in their areas of jurisdiction, effect the cancellation of licenses of establishments which violate the provisions of the Act, ensure effective prosecution of such cases, undertake information campaigns against trafficking in persons and support community based initiatives which address the problem.

The Congress recently passed the Expanded Anti-Trafficking law, which covers attempted trafficking and has accessory or accomplice liability, thereby covering more related acts and individuals. It is awaiting signature by the President for its enactment.

On the other hand, the Inter-Country Adoption Board is the central authority on matters related to inter-country adoption in order to protect children from being trafficked and sold or any other practice in

- Region XIII: according to the Regional Inter-Agency Coalition Against Trafficking (RIACAT), most of the victims of human trafficking in the area from 2004 to 2009 were children (83 out of the 179 victims – 125 females and 54 males). Agusan del Sur topped the list with 41 trafficking cases; Agusan del Norte registered 17; Butuan City, 15; Surigao del Sur, 13; Bislig City, nine cases; Surigao City, seven; Surigao del Norte, five cases; and Dinagat islands; one. Exit points by sea were the Surigao City port in Barangay Lipata and the Nasipit Port in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte; by land, Langihan Terminal in Butuan City; the Surigao City Bus and Jeepney Terminal; San Francisco Terminal in Agusan del Sur; Tandag City Bus and Jeepney Terminal and Bislig City Terminal, both in Surigao de Sur and the Cabadbaran City Bus and Jeepney Terminal in Agusan del Norte province; by air, Bancasi Airport in Butuan City, the Surigao City Airport and the Sayak Airport in Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte. Poverty was identified as the reason for human trafficking incidence. Challenges on anti-trafficking interventions include delayed submissions of family assessment by the LGUs, lack of cooperation among victims against perpetrators, victims’ families’ lack of support and the lack of after-care services for victims. The RIACAT intends to develop better data collection and system of monitoring victims of trafficking, continue ensuring capacity upgrades to boost the staff’s competencies in managing trafficking victims and keep coordinating with LGUs and other agencies in the implementation of Republic Act 9208, or Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

connection with adoption which is harmful, detrimental and prejudicial to them. Likewise, the Task Force on Illegal Recruitment headed by POEA and the Presidential Task Force on Anti-Organized Crime respond to cases of illegal recruitment which may include the trafficking and sale of children.

POST EMERGENCY

According to the NSO-ILO 2011 Survey on Children, 42.2% of the children engaged in hazardous labour do that to help in own household-operated farm or business and 30%, to supplement family income. NDRRMC SitRep 38 indicated that estimated losses in agriculture are 1,503.85 million pesos in Region XI and 165.82 million pesos in Region XIII (including rice and corn crops, livestocks, High

ACTIONS TAKEN

DSWD is disseminating advisories on the risk of trafficking in persons among the humanitarian actors and local government units.

The Child Protection and Gender-Based

Valued Commercial Crops such as coconuts and fisheries)34, which means that some of children working there won’t be engaged in those activities at the short term but might look for others to support their more in need than ever families, which could eventually place them at other hazardous jobs. For the same reasons, children who had never been involved in these situations may be forced to.

Many households are dependent on cash crops like banana, coconut and palm trees for their livelihoods, but it’s estimated to take months and years for these crops to be productive and generate income again35, so the need for alternative sources of income will be higher than before. Consequent migration of adults who’re leaving their children behind with one parent or none also increases the chances of them getting engaged in hazardous works or trafficked. In Baganga (Davao Oriental), especially from the village of Lambajon, the municipal administrator reported that people have started moving out and going to Davao and Manila (some to relatives, others to take chances as getting jobs there as they don’t see any immediate hope for livelihood in Baganga). Although there had not been any ‘recruiter’ spotted in the area yet (except for one security agency which formally approached the LGU to offer jobs for security guards), the danger is heightened. There is no reporting and tracking mechanism established yet36. Orphaned, separated and accompanied children face similar risks if their cases are not properly addressed.

Violence sub-clusters have merged forces to joint act as a Technical Support Group to strengthen the functionality of RIACAT-VAWC and LCPCs in Region XI, build their capacity on identification of children and women at risk and further operationalize the reporting and referral mechanisms. A similar procedure might be established in Region XIII.

On 13 December, Plan International, Save the Children and UNICEF issued a Joint Statement on the Situation of Children After Typhoon Bopha/Pablo stating that “in an environment of chaos and confusion children are more vulnerable”, and “heightened awareness amongst local governments and other community leaders” is needed.

MINIMUM STANDARD 11:

CHILDREN ASSOCIATED WITH ARMED FORCES OR ARMED GROUPS

PRE-EMERGENCY SITUATION

Despite wide condemnation of this practice, children continue to be associated with armed forces and armed groups and other grave violations against their rights continue to be perpetrated by all parties to the conflict.

Recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups 37 : the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the New People’s Army (NPA), the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Black Fighters and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have been using boys and girls as combatants, which exposes them to violence, abuse and exploitation. There was in fact an

PREVENTIVE AND RESPONSE FRAMEWORK

The Philippines is a State party to the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. At the national level, Republic Act 7610 declares children as zones of peace and entitles them to protection,prohibits the voluntary or forcible recruitment of children under 18 to thearmed forces and other non-State armed opposition groups and their use as guides, couriers, and spies (although it does not

increase in the recorded number of cases of child recruitment by armed groups in 2010 (24) compared to 2009 (6)38, and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines have continued to use children for military purposes too. A common pattern observed is their forced involvement in counter-insurgency operations, and often in pursuit of NPA rebels in remote areas of the country. The counter-insurgency strategy, ‘Oplan Bantay Laya’ (Operation Freedom Watch), permits and encourages soldiers to engage with civilians, including children, for military purposes, using them as informants, guides and porters. Similarly, numerous allegations of recruitment and use of children by paramilitary groups have been recorded, particularly the Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Unit, who reportedly pressure and coerce children to join their ranks. The Units are locally recruited from their community and their military operations are confined to the municipality where they are formed. They are under the command structure of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but loosely supervised. Furthermore, the Armed Forces of the Philippines continued to detain children, who affirmed having been physically abused, interrogated under extreme duress, subject to ill treatment and subjected to acts tantamount to torture to extract information on insurgents.

Killing and maiming of children 39 : there was an upsurge in the number of confirmed incidents of killing and wounding of children from 2010 to 2009: 38 children were killed (including 8 girls) and another 40 maimed (including 16 girls) vs. 12 children killed and 40 wounded. Almost 80 percent of the casualties were due to increased armed clashes between the Government military forces and the MILF recalcitrant commands after the aborted signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain in August 2008. There was a noted increase in the use of improvised explosive devices by armed groups in highly populated areas, causing greater casualties among the civilian population.

Rape and other grave violence 40 : The country task force on monitoring and reporting grave child rights violations didn’t receive any cases of rape or other grave sexual violence committed against children in the context of armed conflict from December 2007 to November 2009. It

specify penalties); guarantees the rights of children arrested for reasons related to armed conflict or rescued/ surrendered child soldiers, among other provisions.Republic Act 9208 prohibits any person, natural or juridical – among others –to “recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed activities in thePhilippines or abroad.” The law stipulates a penalty of 20 years’ imprisonmentand a fine of not less than lone million pesos or more than two million pesosfor the recruitment, transportation, and adoption of children to engage in armedactivities. No such case has yet been filed, however.

??House Bill No. 4480 entitled ‘An Act Providing for the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof’ prohibits and penalizes the commission of grave child rights violation in armed conflict situation??

DSWD is the leading government agency in the rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers.

Inter-Agency

CWC Sub-Committee on CAC

OPAPP

etc

In 2007 the Philippines was prioritized by

should be noted, however, that these incidents might also go highly underreported given the associated stigma. In the first country report of the Philippines (2007-2009), a case of sexual assault perpetrated by a member of the 40th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army stationed in Maguindanao was mentioned. A 15-year-old girl from North Cotabato province was sexually assaulted on 19 September 2006, but to ‘date’ (2010) the perpetrator has not been prosecuted. The case of sexual assault by a member of the 30th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Butuan City against a 14-year-old girl, as reported by the Secretary-General in his 8th report on children and armed conflict, is being closely monitored. Since the incident had been forwarded to the UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict in 2008, the military has issued a directive to all its ranks to reiterate the military’s policies prohibiting child abuse. The victim filed a formal complaint against the suspect, and the trial for qualified rape is still in progress.

Abduction 41 : in 2010 eleven accounts of abduction committed against children in conflict settings were recorded, versus six in 2009.

Attacks on schools and hospitals 42 : there was an upward trend in the number of attacks on schools and hospitals and their personnel in 2010, which may be partially attributed to the use of schools as polling stations during the May and October elections. Forty-one incidents were recorded, compared to 10 in 2009. Of those, 14 were attributed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 4 to NPA, 1 to MILF, 2 to ASG, 6 to private militias of local politicians, and 14 to unidentified perpetrators. Schools were targets of improvised explosive device attacks and burning, and teachers were increasingly targeted (11 of them were actually killed). The occupation of schools by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Unit is registering an increasing trend, in contravention of national legislation prohibiting such practice. In remote communities across the country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Unit have been using functioning public school buildings as barracks and command centres, including for storing weapons and ammunition. In some situations, the soldiers were observed approaching children, questioning them and allowing them to handle weapons.

the UN Security Council for the implementation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave child rights violations under resolution 1612 (2005). A country task force on monitoring and reporting was created, which submits periodic reports to …

Denial of humanitarian access to children 43 : an incident which was reported involved an unidentified armed group which confiscated relief goods from an unmarked delivery truck hired by the World Food Programme for displaced communities in Mamasapano town of Maguidanao province.

MINIMUM STANDARD 18:

PROTECTING EXCLUDED CHILDREN

PRE-EMERGENCY SITUATION

Children with disabilities (CWD) are amongst the most stigmatized and excluded of all. Based on the National Statistics Office 2000 Population census, there were 948,098 persons with disabilities in the Philippines (1.23% of the population). Around 70% of them were found in rural areas, and the reported number of children was 191,680 or about 20% of the total, 54 percent of which are males and 46 percent, females. The disabilities that affect the most number of children are mental retardation/illness, loss of arms/hands/leg/feet, oral defects and blindness, and they are mainly due to poor nutrition, measles, inability of expectant mothers to go for prenatal check-ups, premature births and unsanitary living conditions. According to the Special Committee on Child Protection, more than 50% of disabilities among children are acquired, thus, highly preventable.

The prevalence of disability among children 0–14 years old is highest in urban slum and rural areas where health services are limited or worse. Other causes of disability include vehicular accidents and the continuing armed conflict, although there’s no reliable data on these. Many families are often unable to deal with CWD due to negative attitudes and the lack of resources and support systems. Overall, there’s a lack of educational opportunities and rights for children with disabilities because of the limitations of enabling policies that can provide adequate funds to support structures, facilities, staffing, curriculum, special teaching aids and materials, assistive devices and equipment designed to address their special requirements.

- Region XII: Davao City had the highest number of CWD at 2,241 or 29 percent of the total. Next was Davao Norte with 1,686,

PREVENTIVE AND RESPONSE FRAMEWORK

The Philippines is a signatory to the Biwako Millennium framework for action towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (2002), ratified the Convention on the Rights on persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008, and it was further reinforced by the enactment of the Republic Act 7277 in 2007 (Magna Carta for Disabled Persons), Batas Pambansa Blg. 344 (Accessibility Law), Republic Act 6759 (White Cane Act) and ILO Convention 159 (Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons With Disability). The National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) is the national government agency mandated to formulate policies and coordinate the activities of all agencies, whether public or private, concerning disability issues and concerns, tasked to steer the course of program development for persons with disabilities, the delivery of services to the sector and monitor the implementation of laws to ensure the protection of PWDs’ rights52. DOH is spearheading the development of a framework of action for children with disabilities from prevention to screening, treatment, and rehabilitation, and a

Davao del Sur with 1,668, Compostela Valley with 1,268 and Davao Oriental with 934. Of the 7,797 CWD, 2,027, hearing impairment, 1,854, visual impairment, 1,848, intellectual disability, 1,680 were orthopedically handicapped and 388 had multiple impairment44.

- Region XIII: persons with disabilities make up 1.45 percent of Caraga’s population. The most common types of disability are low vision, partial blindness, and quadriplegic. More often than not, the reasons for their disability are lack of maternal and child health care, genetics, and lack of education and information on proper nutrition and other health information. Over the years, this group has been facing the same issues and concerns such as lack of mechanisms on prevention, early detection and intervention of disabling condition of children as well as lack of schools/special education centers for PWD. The role of the LGUs in planning and budgeting is still very critical in addressing the PWD’s concerns, especially through the enforcement of the structures and mechanisms stipulated by laws on the subject at the regional and local levels. It has been observed that during the budgeting period, budget for PWDs was well earmarked in the agencies’ and LGUs’ budget proposals and yet, in the utilization of those budgets, only a minimal amount goes to the programs and projects of PWDs. The institutionalization of the 0.5 percent budget for PWD is still a clamor.

Indigenous children rank among the poorest and most disadvantaged45. Assuming a total indigenous population of 12 to 15 million, the population of IP children can be estimated at 5 to 7 million. Most of them live in far-flung communities usually accessible only by foot, with inadequate basic social services. Unregistered births (most of the 2.6 million estimated in the country46), high malnutrition and mortality rates, low school participation and cohort survival rates and poor environmental sanitation prevail among them, and since many IP communities are armed conflict areas, they’re often caught in armed encounters between the government forces and insurgent groups. Likewise, the entry of development projects and investments of big

strategy for the early prevention, detection/screening of and early intervention for all types of disabilities among children with emphasis on improving awareness level of families on signs and symptoms of disability will be undertaken53. DepEd has been promoting inclusive education by mainstreaming CWD in regular classes, and LGUs are responsible for the rights and well-being of children with disabilities, but their interventions are few and suffer from technical, human and financial constraints54.

The Philippines ratified the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, but the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention is yet to be signed. At the national level, the Constitution has provisions with specific reference to indigenous peoples, which were operationalized with the passage of the Republic Act 8371 or Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. This affirms that “the State shall recognize the vital role of the children and youth of ICCs/IPs in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being,” and addresses the emerging problem of child-recruitment. The national machinery is led by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), created in 1997 as “the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies, plans and

multinational corporations in IP communities has caused physical and economic dislocation of IP children and families47. 'The 2010 NSO Census on Population and Housing integrated ethnicity variables, in order to obtain accurate population count, composition and distribution data of IPs which will enable more targeted and suitable interventions on the sector, but the Government hasn't released the results yet.

o Infant, child and maternal mortality rates within the IP communities are high. Indigenous children too often start life as low birth weight babies, born to a mother deprived of good prenatal care; early marriage, multiple pregnancies throughout women’s reproductive life and hard work even during pregnancies place them in the category of those who bear children “too early, too late, too often, too many.”48

o IP children experience prejudice and discrimination at school because they look, dress, act and talk differently from the majority. Many indigenous children drop out early in the first grade, unable to cope with that situation, and some others never have the chance to even go to school for a variety of reasons: lack of resources, distance, parents’ demotivation...

o Indigenous children usually live in conflict areas, and that factor together with poverty sometimes derives in child labor and trafficking. Violence against indigenous girls is also a serious problem, and there are a number of cultural beliefs and taboos on this that need to be further studied by all stakeholders, i.e. “victims of sexual abuse will eventually outgrow such traumatic experiences” or “cases can be settled amicably”, which leads to children being left without counseling and psychosocial support. The culture of silence represents a hindrance in addressing the problem, and so is the accepted notion of child labor in many of these communities49.

o Indigenous children and youth actively participate in farm or household activities as well as artistic performances, but this doesn’t give them a say in family or community matters

programs to recognize, protect and promote the rights of ICCs/IPs” with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions. It’s an independent agency under the Office of the President, and crafted the Indigenous Peoples Master Plan 2011-2016 to facilitate converge of all stakeholders’ programs for the development of IPs/Indigenous Cultural Communities in accordance with their rights (still to be validated)55.

because the elders enjoy a monopoly of power in those domains.

- Davao Region is inhabited by non-Moro indigenous peoples called Lumads, which make up an estimated 10% of the region’s population and may be clustered into Manobo, Bagobo-B'laan-T'boli-Tiruray, Mandaya-Mansaka, Subanen and the Mamanwa. They basically subsist through swidden and wet rice cultivation, hunting, fishing, gathering and the trade in locally manufactured items. They inhabit the environmentally fragile highlands of the region and live in extreme poverty, forced to exploit dwindling resources for food and fuel, and many do not have an area of land to call their own. One of the root causes of their poverty and marginalization of indigenous peoples is loss of control over their traditional lands, territories and natural resources. A growing number of indigenous people live in urban areas as a result of the degradation of land, dispossession, forced evictions and lack of employment opportunities50.

- Region XIII: indigenous peoples constitute a significant segment of the population of Caraga, in communities composed of five major tribal groups: Banwaon, Higaonon, Mandaya/Kamayo, Mamanwa and Manobo. They are disadvantaged when it comes to their educational status, health and access to employment opportunities. Plus, they are vulnerable as targets of insurgency recruitments, and they tend to be manipulated and exploited. Land tenure insecurity, delayed infrastructure development, leadership conflicts, the presence of non-state actors in ancestral domain areas and the appropriate implementation of the IPRA are the main challenges indigenous peoples are facing.

Out-of-School Children 51 (OOSC): despite the country’s commitment to meet the Education For All and MDGs, trends in education statistics suggest that the Philippines faces challenges in that field. With the attention given to ECCD, a growing number of five year old children are attending kindergarten or day care centers, but in 2008, according to the Annual Poverty Incidence Survey (APIS), in 2008 a third of those

children were not in school. Official primary Net Enrolment Rates were trending toward Universal Primary Education in the period 1990 to 2000, but they dropped and plateaued, with the current rate at about 90 percent. Indirectly, the official NER from DepEd and the NER figures from UIS both suggest that about 10 percent of children aged six to eleven years are not in primary school, and the BEIS and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics also suggest that about 40 percent of children aged twelve to fifteen are not in secondary school. However, there are also primary school-age children who are in preprimary- or postprimary-school levels, and there are secondary school-age children who are in the presecondary- or postsecondary-school levels. Data from the Basic Education Information System (BEIS) and DSWD indirectly suggest that there were 3.3 million children in 2008 between the ages of five and fifteen who were not in school, and nationally representative survey data (APIS 2008) gave a slightly smaller figure of around 2.9 million, three-fifths of them, boys.

- Region XI: 17.3% of males and 12.8% of females out of school

- Region XIII: 14% of males and 9.8% of females out of school

POST-EMERGENCY

Children with Disabilities are prone to exploitation, violence and abuse as other children are, but they face additional obstacles such as isolation, lack of confidence and communication barriers which make it difficult for them to seek support especially in emergency situations56. According to XXXXXXXX data, a total of 55,831 CWD would have been affected by typhoon Pablo, 52,377 in Davao and 2,454 in Caraga (see attached summary of priority needs for a breakdown of the 43 affected municipalities in 8 provinces), although these figures reveal a mismatch with the ones provided by NSO.

Indigenous children usually live in hard-to-reach communities, which posed many serious challenges for relief assistance to get there immediately after typhoon Pablo hit Mindanao; some IPs in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental remained with little or no help at all for several days after their villages got isolated; the only way of

ACTIONS TAKEN

Humanitarian actors are ensuring the inclusion of CWD in all vulnerability assessments as well as their access to the Child Friendly Spaces and back to school programs to be set up, appropriate and timely medical attention also in terms of nutrition, WASH interventions and emergency shelter.

Aid workers are bringing 250PHP basic food packs containing rice, coffee, sugar, milk, canned goods and noodles and other goods to areas where major roads and bridges were damaged.

bringing aid to them was through choppers57.

Out-of-School-Children: the most critical of the demand- side barriers and bottlenecks to schooling, late school entry and completion are parental perceptions on school readiness, differences in expectations between boys and girls, education of mothers and poverty58, which in this case might increase the number of OOSC with children of parents who’ve lost their livelihoods because of the typhoon and get forced to make them look for jobs as well. Plus, on the supply side schools might not be able to resume classes on a normal basis.

The Government is setting up Temporary Learning Spaces in those schools damaged by the typhoon, but available tents are not enough to cover all of them. They’re establishing Child Friendly Spaces too, so that children have a safe place to go and play.

MINIMUM STANDARD 9:

SEXUAL VIOLENCE

PRE-EMERGENCYSITUATION

Child physical and sexual abuse, maltreatment and other forms of violence including torture are on the rise and continue to afflict children at home, in schools and in communities, perpetrated by relatives, teachers, peers or unknown people; DSWD served 4,701 cases in 2010 (table to follow). In the chaos that can follow an emergency, children are especially at risk of sexual violence because of the lack of rule of law, the lack of information provided to them, their restricted power in decision-making and their level of dependence.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Sexually abused and exploited children include cases of rape, incest, acts of lasciviousness and children victims of prostitution, pedophilia, pornography (including cyber pornography). The commercial sexual exploitation of children is considered to be among the worst forms of child labour. Children who escape from dysfunctional households and abusive parents are forced to fend for themselves and are more likely to be exploited. The lack of family and community support systems and poverty, among other factors, contribute to increasing children’s vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation.

UNICEF reported that the Philippines ranked 4th among nine countries with most children in prostitution estimated between 60,000-100,000 although the NGO End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT)

LAWS – ANNEX

Sub-Committee on Sexually Abused and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. (SACSEC). Composed of eleven government and seven non-government agencies, this structure’s main function is on policy development and recommendations relative to issues on sexual abuse and CSEC. It collaborates with government and non-government partners to lobby for the passage of bills (such as the recent passage of RA 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009). Further, the Sub-Committee strengthens and establishes linkages to raise public awareness on SACSEC; develops appropriate IEC materials and fact sheets on SACSEC programs, services and other ongoing responses; reviews and evaluates programs and interventions; plans and recommends innovative strategies; and monitors and evaluates recommendations for approval by the CWC Board. It is also a venue for learning and capacity building

estimated a higher figure of 300,000 children in prostitution. (UNICEF-Child Trafficking SitAn, 2006). However, there is no precise number of children in the sex industry and no data is available on the actual magnitude of children who fall victims to commercial sexual exploitation except those cases reportedly served or handled by government authorities.

Most children exploited in the sex trade are on the average between ages 13 and 18, but cases of children younger than five years old have also been reported. The majority of sex tourists who solicit sex from minors are white males from industrialized nations.

The number of sexually abused and exploited children served by the DSWD decreased to 1,374 in 2010 from 1,970 sexually abused and exploited children served in 2009. Family court prosecutors handled 16,000 cases of sexual and commercial exploitation from 2005 to 2011. (DOJ)

Child pornography. Children who work in the sex industry are prone to pornography as they are most exposed to pedophiles and perverts who may be involved in the production of child pornography. However, even ordinary children become easy prey because of the lack of stringent laws against child pornography and prosecution of perpetrators. The effects of pornography on victims are far reaching and may actually last a lifetime because these images are lasting testaments of a child’s exploitation and abuse causing maladjustment, low self esteem, depression, sense of self-blame, guilt, shame, and psychiatric illness. It can cause irreparable emotional damage through their adult life leading to violent tendencies, maltreatment of their own children, or may turn as abusers or prostitutes. (UNICEF-Child Pornography, 2004)

session where initiatives and pilot projects, and other relevant concepts are presented and discussed.

For the period 2006-2011, the CSPC exerted efforts to improve policies, guidelines and procedures on legal and judicial protection of child victims. Some of these are the following:(a) Child-friendly investigation and interviewing procedures and facilities have been instituted particularly among law enforcers (police and NBI), prosecutors (DOJ-NPS) and social workers (DSWD, LGU social workers, NGOs such as CPU-Net, etc). Related to this, the DOJ and the CSPC members had developed a Manual for Prosecutors in consultation with the other pillars of the justice system.(b) In addition, the DOJ issued memorandum circulars concerning proper handling of affidavit of desistance in child abuse cases, conduct of autopsy without consent, and non-prosecution of social workers taking protective custody, among others. These are some of the bottlenecks in the speedy and successful disposition of cases brought before the justice system. It is therefore important that these memorandum circulars should be consistently enforced.(c) A draft comprehensive protocol on case management of child victims has been developed under the auspices of the CSPC. A series of consultation workshops and write shops were done to ensure widest possible participation of all major

duty bearers particularly the pillars of the justice system. Finalization of the comprehensive protocol will hopefully address remaining bottlenecks towards improved legal and judicial protection measures.45. In terms of training and capacity building, the CSPC and its member agencies reached hundreds of service providers including the pillars of the justice system for upgrading of knowledge, competencies and skills in responding to child abuse, violence and exploitation.(a) CPU-Net has been a key partner of the CSPC in training and capacity building particularly of law enforcers and prosecutors.(b) DSWD has trained social workers on psychosocial case management, referral system for trafficked children, handling CICL under RA 9344, handling children affected by HIV/AIDS, PES, and ERPAT, among others.(c) DOLE has conducted training of labour inspectors on child protection laws and on the use of the manual on inspection, rescue and enforcement.(d) DOJ has regularly conducted training and orientation of prosecutors, retooling on writing child-sensitive and women-sensitive resolutions, TOT on GAD focus on the component on the girl child.(e) DOH has entered into MOA with CPU-Net to establish women and child protection units (WCPU) in strategically located hospitals. DOH advocates for a change in mindset to look at child abuse

as a public health issue.(f) DILG conducts training on child-friendly local governance and on the barangay performance rating system.(g) ECPAT conducts community education on trafficking, child pornography, and child sex tourism.(h) PNP has an integrated training package for police men and women assigned to the Women and Children Protection Division (WCPD).(i) CHR conducts training and orientation on human rights and children’s rights, popularizing CRC.(j) NBI conducts training on child-sensitive investigation procedures.(k) BI holds training on child-sensitive interviewing as part of trafficking module.(l) Faith-based organizations under the umbrella of the Philippine Inter-Faith Network for Children (PHILINC) such as the Salvatorian Pastoral Care for Children (SPCC) have implemented parish-based child protection programs in selected parishes in the Diocese of Novaliches and the Archdiocese of Cebu. SPCC trains parish-based child rights advocates (CRAs). To date, one parish – St. Peter Parish in Commonwealth, Quezon City – has already formulated its own child protection policy.

IASC

A holistic and multi-pronged approach aligned with poverty alleviation and social protection measures will continue to be adopted to provide a caring and

protective environment for children in various conditions of vulnerabilities: (a) massive information and communication interventions promoting preventive measures; (b) pursuing a legislative agenda that calls for tough and stringent sanctions and penalties for those accountable, (c) strengthening the criminal justice system such as the courts, law enforcement agencies and other government institutions tasked with the protection of children, whether as victims or offenders, (d) making formal and non-formal education widely accessible including a range of alternative learning systems; (e) increasing the provision of basic and preventive health care and social services combined with responsive interventions that cater to their specific conditions; (f) creation of more facilities for psycho-social interventions for the early recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of children affected; (g) enabling families and communities with capacities and skills to provide adequate security and protection to their own children; (h) institutionalization of mechanisms for community monitoring and surveillance, able to track vulnerable children and prevent their abuse and exploitation; and (i) establishment of a sound data base and monitoring system at both national and local levels and area mapping for preventive, referral and synchronized interventions.

Child protection strategies require political will and leadership at national,

sub-national and local government levels, the harmonization of efforts by all three branches of government, civil society engagement and international cooperation. Communities, families and parents as immediate duty bearers must recognize their own obligations for caring and protecting their children.

Local governments will ensure that the councils for the protection of children are functional and adequately supported by ordinances, budget appropriation, technical support and assistance. These councils will be assisted in strengthening its role for early detection and tracking to deter abuse, violence and exploitation. Local government units will be encouraged to build and operate shelters, establish local cooperatives, and conduct livelihood and skills training for children victims and their families.Children who need special protection are: children without family or parental care and those left behind, children with disabilities, child labourers, children victims of violence, children who are trafficked, children who are commercially and sexually abused and exploited, children in prostitution and in pornography, children in conflict with the law and those involved in drugs, street children, children in situations of armed conflict, children of indigenous populations, children in emergency situations, affected and displaced by natural disasters

Minimum Standard 13:UNACCOMPANIED AND SEPARATED CHILDREN

UNACCOMPANIED AND SEPARATED CHILDREN

Neglected and abandoned children are among those who are deprived of a caring family environment. These children may be given up for adoption or are placed in residential care facilities. In 2010, DSWD placed a total of 1,339 children in alternative care such as adoption, foster care and legal guardianship. Increasing numbers of children of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are at risk of losing parental care. NGOs like Scalabrini and Anak Migrante-Pamilya have estimated that roughly 4-6 million children of OFWs are left behind and are therefore at risk of losing parental care. Children living in extreme forms of poverty, estimated at 14.9 million as of 2009, are highly vulnerable to family separation, neglect and abandonment.

An emerging concern due to the massive overseas employment is the phenomenon of children left behind. Millions of children today grow up with a parent or both parents living and working away from home. Few actions are made to support the increasing number of children left behind to cope, remain safe, and have a healthy childhood as they grow up in this “new” type of family setting. Nor are there enough efforts to support the individual parents left behind to care for the children or to the alternative care givers like grandparents, aunts, and friends.

"Exploitation and trafficking of children in institutions. While it is especially difficult to obtain statistical data on the exploitation and trafficking of children in institutions, there is evidence to suggest this is a widespread and growing concern72. An existing modus operandi is that children placed in institutions are, in effect, then ‘trafficked’ under the guise of inter-country adoption. Children, including those with parents, are being recruited into institutions for the purposes of financial gain via inter-country adoption. Unscrupulous adoption agencies collude with care institutions to coerce or deceive parents into giving up their children so that they can be adopted overseas.

In 2003, a total of 2,732 children were reported to have been deprived of a family environment and separated from parents. Of this number, about 98.31 or 2,686 children were brought to institutions. Males

Administrative Order (AO) No. 140 series of 2002 as amended by AO NO.6 series of 2005 also known as the Omnibus Guidelines on the Registration and Licensing of Social Welfare and Development Agencies and Accreditation of Social Welfare and Development Programs and Services was developed to enforce standards in the registration, licensing and accreditation of agencies engaged in social welfare and development activities for purposes of authorising, regulating and monitoring the operation of such agencies in the Philippines.

comprised the majority (1,655) compared to females (1,031). The reasons for admission include economic difficulties and family problems such as separation, neglect and abuse, abandonment and death of parents. Forty-two percent of the 8,338 children admitted in 1998-2002 have been reunited with their families, 9 percent were transferred to other residential facilities for long-term care, 5 percent were placed for adoption, and 2 percent for an independent living programme. The remaining 42 percent were discharged for a variety of reasons, such as death and leaving the centre without permission/runaway.

As of 2008, there were about 61 residential care facilities being managed by the DSWD. Meanwhile, as of 2007, DSWD has licensed a total of 2,135 Social Welfare Development Agencies (SWDAs) and Social Work Agencies (SWAs). Of this number, 264 have been accredited with 145 providing residential care service. The majority of these institutions cater to abandoned, neglected and abused children with an average capacity of 30-40 beds.

1 National Statistics Office (NSO), 2010 Census of Population and Housing2 UNICEF Philippines, Country Programme Document 2011-20163 National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippine Development Plan 2011-20164 Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), The Second National Action Plan for Children 2012-20165 National Statistical Coordination Board, Children in the Philippines: Poverty and Well-Being, 20096 UNICEF Philippines, Monitoring Results of Equity Systems (MoRES) Report 20127 UNICEF Philippines, Monitoring Results of Equity Systems (MoRES) Report 20128 UNICEF Philippines, Country Programme Document 2011-20169 XXX, Regional Development Plan 10 Cwas created through Republic Act 7901 as approved by President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995. It11 DSWD Field Office Caraga, website – Regional Director’s corner: http://www.caraga.dswd.gov.ph 12 Report of the joint field visit to the Republic of the Philippines of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF and WFP, 26 March-2 April 201113 Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) website14 Manila Observatory, Country Scoping Study to Build Evidence on Children’s Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Disasters’ Impacts, 201215 Annex I, List of Acronyms16 Child Protection Working Group, Child Protection Systems in Emergencies, 201017 Committee for the Special Protection of Children, Comprehensive Plan on Child Protection 2012-201618 President Benigno S. Aquino III, 2013 Budget Message, http://www.gov.ph/2012/07/24/2013-budget-message-of-president-aquino/ 19 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations to Philippine 3rd and 4th combined reports on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 200920 OneResponse website: http://oneresponse.info/COORDINATION/CLUSTERAPPROACH/Pages/Philippines.aspx 21 National Disaster Coordination Council (now NDRRMC) Circular 5-200722 CPWG, Terms of Reference23 NSO & International Labour Organization, 2011 Survey on Children24 Republic Act 9231 on ‘Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act’25 US Department of Labor, 2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Philippines, 27 August 200826 Asinero, Patrick, coordinator Pag-aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan (ABK2) - http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/davao-city-still-prone-child-labor 27 Miller, Rebeca (Ascari Partners), Desk review for the assessment on trafficking in persons and UNICEF’s prevention of and response to child trafficking in the Philippines, 200828 Save the Children, Child Protection in the Philippines – A Situational Analysis, 201129 ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), ‘Sex Trafficking of Children in the Philippines’, 2009 30 IACAT website, Human Trafficking Statistics31 IACAT, The Second National Strategic Action Plan Against Trafficking In Persons 2012-201632 Ampog, Jeannette, Talikala Executive Director, http://www.mindanaotimes.net/number-of-trafficking-cases-in-region-xi-hike-officials/ 33 IACAT website, ibid, About Us34 National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) SitRep 38 re: Effects of Typhoon Pablo (Bopha)35 UNICEF Philippines, SitRep 5 (internal)36 Plan International, Initial assessment and site visits to Compostela, Monte Vista and New Bataan (Andap) in Compostela Valley, and Baganga, Cateel and Boston in Davao Oriental, 10-14 December, 201237 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict A/65/820–S/2011/250, 201238 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict A/65/820–S/2011/250, 201239 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict A/65/820–S/2011/250, 2012 40 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict in the Philippines S/2010/36, 201041 UNICEF Philippines inputs to the 10th Annual Report of the Secretary General to the Security Council on CAAC42 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict A/65/820–S/2011/250, 201243 UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict A/65/820–S/2011/250, 201244 DSWD Field Office XI, Davao Region Social Protection and Development Report 201045 Racelis, Mary, IP paper46 UNICEF, Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities – National Report, 201047 Committee for the Special Protection of Children, Comprehensive Plan on Child Protection 2012-201648 Racelis, Mary, ibid49 UNICEF HQ, Violence against indigenous girls in XX, the Philippines and XX– zero draft50 Regional Development Plan Region XI, 201X-2016

51 Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), Out-Of-School-Children Global Initiative – Philippine Study, 201252 National Council on Disability Affairs, website: http://www.ncda.gov.ph 53 UNICEF, Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities – National Report, 201054 CWC, The Second National Action Plan for Children 2012-201655 National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Indigenous Peoples’ Master Plan 2011-2016 (draft)56 Handicap International, Disability Checklist for Emergency Response57 Soliman, Corazon ‘Dinky’, http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/12/11/12/indigenous-people-trapped-isolated-comval-villages 58 Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), Out-Of-School-Children Global Initiative – Philippine Study, 2012