As a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Philippines is required to undertake all appropriate legislative measures, among others, for the implementation of the rights of children recognized therein. Thus, for doing so, the Philippines was noted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for her number of legislative initiatives on children. However, in its concluding observations in the consideration of the CRC country implementation reports submitted by the Philippines, the same committee remains concerned that efforts still need to be done to bring national legislation into full conformity and harmony with the CRC’s provisions and principles particularly on issues and concerns on anti–corporal punishment, the age of statutory rape and the status of children born out of wedlock, among others.

In response to the said committee’s recommendations, the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) came up with a previous legislative agenda for children for the last 14^th Congress with the following items, namely: amending the age on statutory rape, anti–child pornography, anti–corporal punishment, foster care and legitimation of children born to minor/underage parents. Of the five topics, the bills on anti–child pornography and legitimation of children born to minor/underage parents were passed into law last year through CWC’s advocacy efforts with its concerned partner agencies and organizations. Thus, the remaining items are to be carried over for the coming 15th Congress.

In its continuing review on policies on children, the CWC Secretariat also came up with other items for the proposed next legislative agenda, such as, allocation of budget for children and a code for children.

With all the foregoing, the following are the priority items of the legislative agenda for children for the 15^th Congress.

1. Strengthening of Family and Alternative Parental Care Arrangements Through Foster Care.

Children should grow up in a family that provides affective, emotional and moral security and stability. The separation of children from their families should be prevented and should not be against their will. If separation is necessary for the child’s best interests or is due to circumstances beyond control, appropriate alternative care should be provided. Thus, children who are deprived of family care and protection shall be provided with alternative parental care, one of which is foster care. Foster care program should be strengthened by relaxing the requirements for foster care, providing incentives to foster care families and promoting foster care program to expand the roster of foster care families.

Also, the Committee remains concerned at the high number of institutionalized children, at reported cases of physical and emotional abuse of children in residential care as well as at the lack of quality standards of care and monitoring for alternative care. Thus, it calls on the Philippines to adopt and implement as a matter of priority the Foster Care Bill in order to advance the deinstitutionalization of children and provide them with a family environment.

2. Calling for the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering, usually physical, intended to change a person's behavior or to punish them, especially on children. In the Philippines, corporal punishment is used on children at the home, but prohibited at school. The parents use belts, their hands, and caning to discipline their children. Presidential Decree No. 603 (The Child and Youth Welfare Code) says that parents have the right to discipline their child as may be necessary to form his or her good character, particularly obedience.

However, the committee recommended that States parties to the CRC, the Philippines among them, to prohibit corporal punishment, including humiliating or degrading punishments and other forms of violence against children. To punish the child, even in the context of discipline, through physical, emotional or psychological harm is clearly a violation of the most basic of human rights. Research has found that corporal punishment is counterproductive and relatively ineffective, as well as dangerous and harmful to the child’s physical, psychological and social well being. Thus, it recommends the prohibition of corporal punishment in the home, in the school, in the institutions, at work and in detention centers.

3. Amending the Law on Statutory Rape.

The age for our present law on statutory rape is 12 years old. However, this is not a deterrent as studies show that there are more reported rape cases committed against children between ages 13–15 years old. To give the law more teeth, it is proposed to amend the said law by raising it from the age of 12 to 16 years old. Pegging the age higher will provide greater protection against child abuse as more violators will be covered as its coverage will be expanded. Also, the victims will have more courage to pursue their cases rather than suffer silently. Their cases can be proven easily as the only requirements to ensure conviction are carnal knowledge and the victim being under 16. With this, offenders will have second thoughts in committing such crime against children below 16 years old.

4. Removing the Distinction/Discrimination Against Illegitimate Children

While recognizing efforts on addressing the concerns on the discrimination of illegitimate children such as the enactment into law Republic Act Nos. 9255 and 9858 (on allowing illegitimate children to use their father’s surname and on the legitimation of children born to parents below marrying age, respectively), the committee remains concerned with the Philippines at the lack of legislation with regard to the unequal status of children born out of wedlock, particularly with regard to their right to inherit and their discriminatory classification as “illegitimate”.

Thus, the committee requests the Philippines to review and enact domestic legislation in order to secure their right to equal treatment, including their right to equal inheritance and abolish the discriminatory classification of those children as “illegitimate”.

5. Protecting Children Affected by Armed Conflict.

Republic Act No. 7610 provides that children, especially in situations of armed conflict, are zones of peace. It also provides the rights and treatment of children who are arrested relative to armed conflict. However, the committee finds the ambiguity of the said law, particularly in Article 10. It prohibits recruitment of children into armed groups, while it does not provide sanctions for doing so. Thus, it recommends that the Philippines takes legislative measures to address such ambiguity, especially in the light of the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. It further recommends that it ensures such children are not treated as children in conflict with the law.

The committee also calls to strengthen existing measures aimed at the demobilization of such recruited children, their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration as they are also victims. These include measures to address the situation of displacement of children and to ensure their access to social and health services, education and to development. This is also in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law.

6. Allocation of Budget for Children

The CRC and the UN Millennium Declaration revealed the need to accomplish institutional and societal transformations to meet the challenges of child survival, development, protection and participation. Putting children first on the financial agenda of both developed and developing countries is one of the most substantial expressions of a will to implement the level of political commitments then taken.[1] Almost all CRC rights depend upon resources for their fulfillment. Article 4 of the CRC says that State “shall take” measures to realize “economic, social and cultural rights…to the maximum extent of their available resources…”

In addition, the committee noted even if children comprise half of the country’s population, they hardly figure in the budget and allocation for their concerns and needs as it remained measly every year. Children continue to be seen amidst the societal challenges like poverty eradication, development, and ensuring quality education among others. Indeed, fulfillment of their basic rights entails costs. This further establishes how children’s rights and welfare are essentially linked with public budgets. Considering all these, there is a need to have a measure that prioritizes and increases budgetary allocation for children to ensure the promotion and protection of children’s rights. A budget for children will be a concrete instrument that could accurately measure the government’s commitments and efforts to advance child rights.

7. Strenthening of the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC)

The committee notes that the CWC continues to be the focal inter–agency body for children in the Philippines with the mandate to coordinate the implementation and enforcement of all laws, policies, programmes and measures for children. Also, it welcomes the State party’s initiatives to address the lack of implementation at the local level through the establishment of Local Councils for the Protection of Children (LCPCs) at barangay, municipal, city and provincial levels, as well as of 17 Regional Committees/Sub–committees for the Welfare of Children (RC/SCWCs), linking the national government with the local government units (LGUs). However, the committee expresses its concern at the lack of human and financial resources allocated to the CWC, LCPCs and RSCWCs which may prevent the effective functioning of such mechanisms.

Thus, the committee urges the Philippines to continue and strengthen its measures to improve the coherence of efforts on behalf of children, especially the effective coordination between existing bodies, namely the CWC and the PHRC, taking into account their specific status and competencies. The committee recommends to strengthen the authority of the CWC as the main coordination body for children and ensure the allocation of adequate human, financial and technical resources for the CWC in particular as well as the LCPCs and the RSCWCs to ensure the effective functioning of such mechanisms. The committee also encourages the State party to establish LCPCs in the remaining barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces in order to achieve full territorial coverage.