Children in the Philippines are subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and in armed conflict. Children also perform dangerous tasks in agriculture and gold mining. (1,2) The Survey on Children indicated that 2.1 million children ages 5 to 17 engage in child labor, of whom approximately 2 million engage in hazardous work. (3-5) Table 1 provides key indicators on children’s work and education in the Philippines.

Source for primary completion rate: Data from 2019, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2022. (6)
Source for all other data: International Labor Organization's analysis of statistics from Labour Force Survey (LFS), 2019. (7)

Based on a review of available information, Table 2 provides an overview of children’s work by sector and activity.

† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Children from rural communities, primarily girls, are subjected to trafficking domestically in urban centers and tourist destinations for the purposes of domestic work and commercial sexual exploitation. (2,24,28) While evidence indicates that the availability of child sex trafficking victims in commercial establishments declined in some urban areas, child sex trafficking remains a pervasive problem, typically abetted by taxi drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. (28) Traffickers also lure children from remote areas in Mindanao and other regions by using tourist visas available in Middle Eastern countries, where many Filipinos work in household service jobs, and then sell the children to employment sponsors who exploit them. (24,28-30) Traffickers are able to circumvent the Government of the Philippines and destination countries’ regulatory frameworks for foreign workers and evade detection by using student and intern exchange programs and fake childcare positions. In addition, traffickers take advantage of porous maritime borders to avoid detection. (28)

Research indicates that the Philippines remains one of the top global Internet sources of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC), which continues to be a highly profitable and growing sector due to increased access to Internet connectivity. There were 2.8 million reports of OSEC in 2021, compared with 1.3 million reports received in 2020. (2) Although most of the cases were not actionable due to multiple submissions or erroneous reporting, 268 OSEC investigations were launched in 2021, compared with 73 cases in 2020. (2) In cases of OSEC, children are induced to perform sex acts at the direction of paying foreigners and local Filipinos for live Internet broadcasts that usually take place in small Internet cafes, private homes, or windowless dungeon-like buildings commonly known as “cybersex dens.” (1,18,22,24,28,31-33) Increasingly, women have been found to be perpetuating OSEC crimes, motivated mostly by financial incentives, with data indicating that upwards of 87 percent of OSEC cases involve a female trafficker known to the victims, most commonly the mother. (24,31,34) In October 2021, for instance, Philippine police arrested a 39-year-old woman and rescued two minors from an operation of online sexual exploitation. (35)

A report released in 2020 concluded that the Philippines had become a global hub for OSEC due to high international and domestic demand, vulnerabilities in the financial system, and gaps in existing legislation. (24,36)

Recruitment of child soldiers by non-government militias and terrorist organizations, predominately on the southern island of Mindanao, remains a concern. (1,4,8,22,25,26,28,33,37) Research also shows that these non-state armed groups, including the New People's Army, the Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit children—sometimes by force—from schools for use in combat and non-combat roles, including as human shields, cooks, and fighters, while offering religious education and material incentives to join. (1,8,18,22,24,28,33,37) In addition, the Islamic State reportedly subjects women and girls to sexual slavery. (28) In 2021, 10 children were recruited or used in armed conflict by non‐state forces, including the following: New People’s Army, Dawla Islamiyah, and Abu Sayyaf. Some of the child‐victims were forced to serve in combat or non-combat roles, like medic, supply officer, or errand‐runner. (2) The Government of the Philippines continued to convene formal coordination meetings with the UN on incidents of grave violations against children to facilitate appropriate responses to such situations. (1,22,38)

According to results from a 2020 survey on child labor, children were found working on sugarcane plantations and rice fields in Luzon; as vendors, tricycle drivers, and carwash crew in Cavite; as plastic and paper scrap scavengers in Caloocan City; and as factory workers for slipper production in Laguna. Children from areas impacted by Typhoon Haiyan in Visayas in 2013 were reportedly forced to work as domestic helpers and as “traffic enforcers” to aid in high-construction areas post-typhoon, while children from indigenous communities in Mindanao worked on corn plantations. (4,39) Furthermore, a survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, in conjunction with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), found that of 1.4 million domestic workers, more than 50,000 were minors, and 4,900 of them were under age 15. It also reported that 95 percent of all child laborers were found to be engaging in conditions of hazardous work. (4,17) The Philippine Statistics Authority included a child labor module in the October 2017 to 2020 rounds of the Labor Force Survey, the results of which were released during the reporting year. (2)

Although the Constitution establishes free, compulsory education through age 18, unofficial school-related fees, such as for school uniforms, are prohibitive for some families. Other barriers to education include substandard infrastructure, which makes traveling and access to schools challenging, especially for children in rural areas, and architectural barriers that pose challenges for children with disabilities. (33) The 2019 Functional Literacy and Mass Media Survey showed a decrease in school-age children not attending school—from 10.6 percent in 2013 to 5.7 percent in 2019. The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that more than 10 million persons ages 6 to 24 were not attending school in 2019. (2)

The Philippines has ratified all key international conventions concerning child labor (Table 3).

The government has established laws and regulations related to child labor (Table 4). However, gaps exist in the Philippines' legal framework to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labor, including having the minimum age for work below the compulsory education age.

* Country has no conscription (51)
‡ Age calculated based on available information (52)

For a fourth year, the Government of the Philippines reportedly continued reviewing proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 9231 that would: (a) increase the minimum age of employment from age 15 to age 16, (b) devolve the issuance of child work permits to local government units, (c) institute stricter working hours for children, (d) mandate that part of the money legally earned by children be set aside in a trust fund, (e) authorize DOLE to determine the types of non-hazardous agricultural employment or work that children ages 16 to 18 can perform, and (f) design a holistic intervention program for children working in the informal economy. (1,4,8)

During the reporting period, the government proposed amendments to several House and Senate Bills dealing with the worst forms of child labor, but no legislative bill has been filed yet. This includes two bills related to human trafficking: House Bill No. 8295, which is an act to institute policies to eliminate trafficking in persons, especially the trafficking of women and children, and establish institutional mechanisms to protect and support trafficked persons; and Senate Bill No. 2449, which aims to strengthen protection against trafficking in persons and reorganize the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking to include additional agencies. There also are two bills related to OSEC: House Bill No. 8760, which aims to strengthen the protection of children from OSEC by providing treatment for victims and penalties for unlawful acts constituting OSEC; and Senate Bill No. 2209, which will provide protection to children from OSEC and set up a National Coordinating Center Against OSEC. Lastly, House Bill No. 10235 would provide uniform night work prohibition by children under age 18. (2,54)

As the minimum age for work is lower than the compulsory education age, children may be encouraged to leave school before the completion of compulsory education. (33)

The government has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor (Table 5). However, gaps exist within the authority of enforcement agencies that may hinder adequate enforcement of their child labor laws.

From January to September 2021, DOLE identified 152,084 child laborers: 121,506 were referred to other agencies for the provision of necessary services, 7,784 were provided with necessary services by DOLE, and 21,935 were removed from child labor. (2)

A lack of resources, including staff and a centralized database for tracking illegal recruitment and human trafficking, is an area of concern within law enforcement agencies because it impedes their ability to act quickly on complaints of child labor, including OSEC, in both investigations and prosecutions. (22,28)

Labor Law Enforcement

In 2021, labor law enforcement agencies in the Philippines took actions to address child labor (Table 6). However, gaps exist within the authority of DOLE that may hinder adequate labor law enforcement, including the authority to assess penalties.

From January to September 2021, DOLE's inter-agency quick action team that detects, monitors, and rescues child laborers led 10 rescue operations and removed 18 children from child labor. Since its inception in 1993 until October 2021, the DOLE quick action team has rescued 3,639 child laborers. (2)

During the reporting year, DOLE hired 500 additional contractors to assist in the inspection of priority establishments, including workplaces that performed hazardous work and employed children. (2,73) DOLE has requested that these contractor positions be converted to regular inspection positions. DOLE Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) noted that in 2021 it was unable to inspect all workplaces due to inadequate staffing. (2) The number of labor inspectors is likely insufficient for the size of the Philippines’ workforce, which includes approximately 42 million workers. According to the ILO’s technical advice of a ratio approaching 1 inspector for every 15,000 workers in developing economies, the Philippines would employ about 2,852 labor inspectors. (8,74,75)

An additional $3.6 million was allocated to the BWC regional offices for administrative expenses, including for labor inspector travel and transportation costs, trainings, information system enhancement, personal protective equipment, and cellular data plan subscriptions. However, this funding does not include a budget for the salaries of the labor inspectors working outside the National Capital Region. (2) Despite these allocations, enforcement of child labor laws remained challenging due to the lack of resources for inspections and the limited number of inspectors, especially in rural areas where many vendors are unregistered and highly mobile. (1,8,13,27) The BWC also acknowledged that more specialized training on child labor is needed to enhance labor inspectors' ability to readily identify and act on child labor situations. (1,4)

From January to November 2021, DOLE‐BWC inspected 58,363 establishments, which is an uptick from the decline in 2020. All inspections and assessments were conducted in the presence of the employer and employee representatives. (2) Scheduling routine inspections is based on the national target set by the DOLE Central Office. Regional offices implement inspections based on factors such as prevailing industries and geographical areas. (1,2,57) Despite this, enforcement of child labor protections is not sufficient for children employed in the informal sector and in small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in agriculture and fishing, due to DOLE’s lack of capacity and resources. (1,4,8,24,33,76) The Rescue the Child Laborers Quick Action Teams are permitted to conduct unannounced compliance visits to video karaoke bars, massage parlors, saunas and bathhouses, and farms, but they are not authorized to conduct visits to private homes to search for underage child domestic workers. However, there are mechanisms available to barangay (village level) officials to permit them to investigate domestic work-related complaints. (1,4,8)

The government did not provide information on its labor law enforcement efforts related to the number of child labor violations for which penalties were imposed or collected.

Criminal Law Enforcement

In 2021, criminal law enforcement agencies in the Philippines took actions to address child labor (Table 7). However, gaps exist within the operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that may hinder adequate criminal law enforcement, including ineffective or slow court proceedings.

During the reporting period, the government continued its anti-drug campaign, which began in 2016, and did not adequately protect children allegedly engaged in drug trafficking from inappropriate incarceration or physical harm. (4,77,78) The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) continuously monitored children involved in drug trafficking. From January to October, PDEA indicated that it rescued 522 minors ages 4 to 17 during anti-drug operations nationwide and identified 2,377 children between ages 9 and 17 as drug pushers, 963 as possessors, 434 as users, 229 as drug den visitors, 16 as drug den employees, 9 as drug den maintainers, 2 as cultivators, 1 as a clan lab employee, and 2 as runners. (2) PNP reported its referral of these children to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), after which they were placed in either juvenile detention centers or Houses of Hope, which, in practice, closely resemble detention centers. (8,33,79)

Children also continued to be victims of extrajudicial killings during operations carried out as part of the anti-drug campaign. (2) There were reports of collateral deaths of children caught in the crossfire during police operations connected to the drug war, with some high-level government officials suggesting that killing suspected drug traffickers and users was necessary to wipe out drug-related crime, increasing the vulnerability of children being used in the drug trade. (1,80-81) According to a children's rights NGO, 18 children were victims of extrajudicial killings during law enforcement operations between January and June 2021. (2) While there appears to be no prosecutions or convictions of law enforcement officials accused of extrajudicial killings of children, the government reported that it began investigating killings during police operations during the reporting period. In October 2021, the DOJ indicated that it would review more than 6,000 killings during police operations that were part of the drug war. (82) This decision indicates a shift from the Philippines government's defense of the drug war, which comes after the United Nations and International Criminal Court put pressure on the government to investigate practices used during the drug war. The government released details of 52 deaths related to drug war. (82) However, no cases have been filed by the Philippine DOJ against erring policemen. (82)

Philippine law allows judges to award civil compensation to human trafficking victims from damages arising from being trafficked, but victims rarely receive this restitution since perpetrators often lack sufficient assets to pay. However, in cases for which perpetrators are financially able to pay this penalty, many are able to evade doing so due to ineffective, slow court procedures. (24)

Research indicates the need for more law enforcement personnel, funds for operations, and equipment for forensic analysis of digital evidence due to the high volume of cybercrime tips related to child sexual exploitation received by the Office of Cybercrime each month. (28,33) Slow-moving courts, the need for additional training on handling digital evidence, a lack of understanding regarding the legal framework, and too few prosecutors also hindered the effective and timely prosecution of human trafficking crimes. (18,24,28,30)

Moreover, prosecutors and law enforcement received training on OSEC in a 3.5-day training session that taught them how to effectively conduct cases and build investigations on rescue and entrapment operations of cases involving OSEC. The International Justice Mission, with the assistance of Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), also provided OSEC training through live webinars to 61 prosecutors and law enforcement professionals, which included topics like OSEC fundamental concepts and maximizing digital evidence in OSEC prosecution. (2,54)

The government has established mechanisms to coordinate its efforts to address child labor (Table 8).

IACAT and the National Bureau of Investigation, with the support of the UK National Crime Agency, opened the first Cyber‐Trafficking in Persons Monitoring Center (CTIPMC) in the Philippines on July 22, 2021 to address OSEC. CTIPMC has 10 staff and aims to generate cases and police cyberspace to prevent it from being used as a medium for committing human trafficking. (2,54)

Moreover, the government also establish the Task Force Against the Trafficking of Overseas Filipino Workers to track trafficking cases referred by the Department of Foreign Affairs overseas missions. The Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Task Force is currently developing an Operational Handbook that will provide an effective and efficient referral mechanism for cases involving OFWs. (2,28,71) The final draft of the "Guidelines on the Investigation, Reporting, and Monitoring of Trafficking in Persons Cases Facilitated by Corruption" is now pending review with DOJ to ensure a zero‐tolerance policy on trafficking‐related malfeasance in government. The Manual of Operations for IACAT’s Tahanan Nang Inyong Pag‐Asa (TIP) Center is also being finalized, and contains all essential information on the management of victim‐survivors and the entire operation of the center. (2) IACAT and International Justice Mission are co‐developing a comprehensive, harmonized, and unduplicated data collection system and analysis of trafficking in persons across agencies. The initial draft of the Department Circular on the Guidelines on the Implementation of Anti‐Trafficking in Persons and Modern Slavery Policy in the Department Procurement Process was presented to the DOJ‐Bids and Awards Committee for comments and finalization. (2)

The government has established policies that are consistent with relevant international standards on child labor (Table 9).

‡ The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor. (45,106,107)

In 2021, the government funded and participated in programs that include the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor (Table 10). However, gaps exist in these social programs, including the provision of adequate services for victims of child pornography.

† Program is funded by the Government of the Philippines.
‡ The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor. (120,121) 

Although some specialized resources exist to assist victims of human trafficking, the Philippines lacked sufficient programs to care for and rehabilitate children who have been victims of OSEC. (27) In addition, there are not adequate programs to provide insight on the impact of OSEC on child victims. (38,122,123)

DSWD works in consultation with parents and community leaders to determine how best to assist children suspected of being involved in the drug trade; however, DSWD does not have programs specifically designed to increase protections for or assistance to children engaged in drug trafficking. DSWD also lacks programming to address the heightened vulnerability of children impacted by the death of familial breadwinners in the drug war. (8,124)

PDEA continued to coordinate with DSWD when dealing with children allegedly involved in drug trafficking. From July 2016 to October 2021, Philippine law enforcement arrested 4,033 minors. (2) Upon the PDEA turning over arrested children and within 8 hours of the conclusion of their court proceedings, DSWD transferred the children to either juvenile detention centers or "Houses of Hope" (Bahay ng Pag-asa) rehabilitation and skills training centers for children in trouble with the law. (2,4,125) Local government units or NGOs operate more than 70 Houses of Hope throughout the country, with little oversight from the federal government. Although there is an accreditation process for these facilities administered by the federal Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, only a small number of Houses of Hope have met the qualifications, allowing for continued corruption, maltreatment of residents, and failure to provide quality rehabilitative services. Reports in past years showed that many Houses of Hope operated as youth detention centers where children were subjected to physical and emotional abuse, deprived of liberty, and forced into overcrowded and unhygienic cells. (33,55,78,125,126) In two facilities, for example, there were complaints of limited access to water, insufficient amounts of food, and expired food, including a report that unused sacks of rice were infested with weevils. (55,127,128) Research, however, was unable to show whether these issues continued during the reporting year. In 2021, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council undertook the following actions to ensure these detention centers were compliant with safety standards: conducted regular monitoring by visiting Houses of Hope; mandated registration of children in a centralized data-base system that determines program planning and policies; and began designing a Standards and Manual of Operations Guidebook to ensure detained children are provided with comprehensive programs, services, and interventions in a safe environment, which is expected to be completed by 2022. (2)

Based on the reporting above, suggested actions are identified that would advance the elimination of child labor in the Philippines (Table 11).

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