La Strada Documentation Center

Rights of the Child in the Philippines

Document number
1422
Date
2005
Title
Rights of the Child in the Philippines
Author/publisher
Froukje Boele, Cécile Trochu, Eric Sottas
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Corporate social responsibility, Multi-stakeholder partnerships: Missing children, Internal trafficking, Forced labour, Identification, Domestic servitude, Sexual exploitation, Private fostering, Forced marriage, Child Trafficking, Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Child protection systems,
Summary
Although the Republic of the Philippines is struggling with poor economic conditions and reoccurring political unrest, the country has been actively engaged in law and policy making to protect children’s rights. The subsequent alternative report aims at providing information on the state of affairs of the rights of Filipino children. The most important observation flowing from the report is the incoherence between theory and practice. Unfortunately, in many instances practice does not coincide with what the Filipino law prescribes. A manifest illustration of this problem is found with respect to the sex industry. The laws in the Philippines against commercial sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution, child sex tourism and trafficking are multiple. Regretfully, these kind of practices have been too often observed and are clearly in contravention with prescribed Philippine law and Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Moreover, the report discerns that children have been affected by reoccurring incidences of armed conflict in the Philippines. In its fight against the New People’s Army (NPA), the government has repeatedly unlawfully killed children and arbitrary detained them. Regarding armed conflict in the Philippines, OMCT is also concerned with the continuing recruitment of children by non-State armed groups.
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