Q & A on the Anti-Child Labor Law
Q & A on the Anti-Child Labor Law
Q&A on Child Labor: A New Law, a Stronger Whip?
Fourteen years past since the passage of RA 7610 or Child Abuse Act, very few cases on child labor have been filed in court, with fewer ever reaching conclusive decisions by the justice system. Recently the Philippines flexibly upgraded this child protection law with more specific provisions against abusive child labor. The new act aims to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and gives stronger protection for victims. It also increases penalties against abusers up to P1 million and 20 years of imprisonment. This first step makes the Philippines a worldwide model in aligning national policies to the spirit of the most widely ratified International Labor Organization Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labor.
On January 17, 2004, exactly six years after a successful kick off by the Global March Against Child Labor in Manila, more than 5,000 victims and survivors of child labor will again festively march to celebrate the ceremonial signing of this law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The strength of this law will be measured by the seriousness of its implementation, says the event organizers who have also arranged for a dialogue between the children and other political candidates who have yet to present their platforms on child labor as a key election issue.
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Q. What are the salient features of this new law?
The full title of RA 9231 is, "An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child, Amending for this Purpose Republic Act 7610, As Amended, Otherwise Known as the "Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act"
It recognizes ILO Convention 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor as a crucial commitment to the international community.
It stipulates that, if working in non-hazardous conditions, children below 15 years old can work not more than twenty hours a week, at most 4 hours a day. The law limits children 15-17 years old to work not more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Night work from 8 pm to 6 am is prohibited. An ILO study reveals that working beyond these prescribed hours of work will be detrimental to a child's development.
Children should receive and own their own wages. Parents or legal guardians can set up a trust fund from at least 30% of the child's earnings solely for the purpose of future support, education or skills training.
Courts will impose a fine of 100 thousand pesos to 1 million pesos, and imprisonment of 12 to 20 years against any persons engaging any child in the worst forms of child labor such as:.
- Slavery such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, serfdom, including recruitment of children for use in armed conflict
- Prostitution and pornography
- Use of children for illegal activities, including drug trafficking,
- Work that is hazardous and harmful to the health, safety and moral of children
Employers should provide the working child access to at least primary and secondary education. The Department of Education shall design and make available to working children alternative and non-formal education courses.
The government shall also provide working children with free and immediate legal, medical and psychological services. These victims will be exempted from paying filing fees for recovering civil damages.
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Q. Are the penalties ever stronger?
The new law provides for stiffer penalties against acts of child labor, particularly in its worst forms.
To emphasize Section 16-B, the law says that engaging any child in the worst forms of child labor will be penalized by a fine of 100 thousand pesos to P1 million, and imprisonment of 12 to 20 years.
Trafficking for exploitative child labor will be penalized by imposing the maximum period of jail term of 20 years, including the maximum fine of P5 million.
If the offender is a corporation, its Board of Directors will also be liable under this law.
Parents will also be responsible if they force their children into hazardous work. They will be fined 10 thousand pesos to 100 thousand pesos, or be required to render community service for a period of 30 days to 1 year, imposed to maximum period if they violate three times.
DOLE may also close down business firms found violating anti-child labor provisions.
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Q. What particular government agencies will have an active role in implementing this law?
Children, parents, relatives, social workers, barangay chiefs and at least three responsible citizens can file a complaint.
To ensure speedy prosecution, this laws takes a further step by limiting the investigation period to 30 days after the filing. It also arms family courts to conduct trials not longer than 90 days and to render decisions within 15 days.
Protecting victims will be crucial. The government is tasked to provide working children with free and immediate legal, medical and psychological services. These victims will be exempted from paying filing fees for recovering civil damages.
The DOLE in particular will administer a Trust Fund from the fines and penalties imposed to violators. This fund will be used solely for the rehabilitation and reintegration of child labor victims.
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Q. Is this new law enough?
While the signing of this law is a great victory for the Filipino working child, we still have to see how the next government plans to implement this law. Proactive and effective national action using the combined programs and services of many existing partners in the field will be key in preventing child labor in the future.
Much work is already being done in the ground. Thanks to increasing national and international attention on the issue, hundreds of programs took off from the ground since five years ago. When combined and networked, they provide a comprehensive network of services for abused working children such as rescue, healing, education, life skills and the like. Organized groups of working children have also sprouted as strong partners of NGOs themselves.
For these reasons, the Philippines has always been cited as having among the best practices in child labor programs across the globe. This has been a major criterion for choosing the country as one of the pilot areas for the "national time-bound program approach" as embodied in the International Labor Organization Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor, now one of the core labor standards in attaining decent work.
The challenge is to sustain these efforts into a comprehensive, target-specific and country-owned approach. This is called the time-bound program approach. This is one of the basic philosophies behind the evolution of the National Program Against Child Labor or NPACL. Together with the UNICEF under the firth-term Country Program for Children, the ILO is supporting the effort of social partners greatly involved in many levels of consultations.
NPACL is envisioned "to represent finest efforts of our country's network of social partners in harnessing the collective action of individuals and organizations for eliminating the worst forms of child labor and transforming the lives of child laborers, their families and communities, towards their sense of self-worth, empowerment and development."
With an ambitious target of reducing by 75% by year 2015 the 2.4 million children found in hazardous work, the NPACL partners are dawning a new era of work on child labor in the country. This target is in line with the Education for All Agenda under the Philippine Millennium Summit Goals of enrolling all children to elementary education.
The program has initially targeted six priority sectors in eight regions where children are working in agricultural plantations, domestic work, prostitution, mining/quarrying, deep-sea fishing, and firecracker-production. These regions include Manila, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu and Davao.
The law will only be as good as its implementation. There are many social issues that plague the country, each competing for attention and for resources. Strong public attention will help carry on the fight to end child labor in this generation. Because child labor is a historically accepted practice, we need to increase awareness among parents and help provide opportunities to discourage them from sending their children to work.
VF is also the Philippine Secretariat of the Global March Against Child Labor.
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