Child Labor-Related Laws

The Philippines has a long history of legislation aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of children. The Labor Code of the Philippines, which was enacted into law in 1974, set the minimum age of employment at 15 years and prohibited the employment of persons below 18 years of age in hazardous undertakings. Presidential Decree No. 603 (The Child and Youth Welfare Code) allows the employment of children aged 16 years and below only if they perform light work, which is not harmful to their safety, health or normal development, and which is not prejudicial to their studies. Strict guidelines were laid down on their rates of pay, hours of work and other conditions of employment. An employment permit also has to be secured from the Department of Labor and Employment.

Following the spirit of the 1987 Constitution, national and local legislation have given priority to the protection of children from abuse and exploitation. The 1992 child protection law, Republic Act No. 7610 (Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act) is a landmark legislation that provides protection of children against abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, and employment in illicit activities. Republic Act No. 7658 (Amending RA 7610) reaffirmed the minimum age of employment to 15 years, and 18 years and above for hazardous work. Republic Act 7160 (The Local Government Code of 1991) includes provisions for the proper development and welfare of children at the basic political level, the Barangay. It enjoins local officials to promote and support activities for the protection and total development of children, particularly those below seven years of age, and adopt measures to prevent and eradicate drug abuse, child abuse, and juvenile delinquency. In September 1995, then President Fidel V. Ramos signed Executive Order No. 275 creating a special oversight committee for the special protection of children from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, discrimination and other conditions prejudicial to their development.

To implement existing laws on the protection of children, the Department of Labor and Employment has also issued various administrative issuances. For instance, it issued Department Order No. 4 (Hazardous Work and Activities of persons below 18 years of age, Series of 1999) that reiterates the prohibitions and exceptions to employment of children below 15 years of age and 18 years in hazardous or deleterious work. It defines work and activities that are hazardous to persons below 18 years and classifies them into five categories: (1) work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; (2) work underground, underwater, at dangerous heights or at unguarded heights of two meters and above, or in confined places; (3) work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves manual handling or transport of heavy loads; (4) work in an unhealthy environment which may expose children to hazardous processes, to temperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health, to toxic, corrosive, poisonous, noxious, explosive, flammable and combustible substances or composites, to harmful biological agents, or to other dangerous chemicals including pharmaceuticals; and (5) work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during the night, or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer.

It must be noted that each of the six priority target groups of the ILO-IPEC TBP Support Project fall under the definition of hazardous work, and yet several thousands of children work in these sectors nationwide.

Policies and Programmes

• In line with the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, the National Child Labour Committee (NCLC) has made a commitment to work toward a 75 percent reduction of the WFCL by 2015.
• The Government of the Philippines has integrated child labour as a priority concern in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (2001-2004).
• The National Program Against Child Labour (NPACL) is an overall time-bound framework for action, which has been adopted by the country in pursuing its goal of eliminating child labour, particularly its worst forms. The NPACL serves as a blueprint for establishing priorities, for allocating resources and for guiding local, national and international efforts to eliminate the most inhuman and intolerable forms of child labour.
• To institute immediate measures to eliminate the WFCL, the Philippine Time-Bound Programme (PTBP) was launched on 28 June 2002, which forms a major component of the NPACL.