VZCZCXRO4603
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #0361 0421013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 111013Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9715
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS MANILA 000361 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, G/TIP, DRL/ILCSR 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ETRD KCRM RP
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR LAUNCHES PROJECT TO COMBAT CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: A. STATE 10273 (GSP Interim Demarche) 
 
 ¶B. 07 MANILA 3857 (2007 Child Labor Update) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Ambassador joined Philippine Labor and 
Employment Secretary Arturo Brion and other government and NGO 
leaders on February 7 to launch a $5.5 million project funded by the 
U.S. Department of Labor to combat the worst forms of child labor 
and to improve child laborers' access to education.  The project, 
led by the U.S.-based NGO World Vision, seeks to remove and prevent 
30,000 children from engaging in dangerous and hazardous work, such 
as commercial sexual exploitation, mining and quarrying, and 
firecracker manufacturing.  The Ambassador also delivered demarche 
to Secretary Brion on USG concerns about labor rights protection and 
the need for progress on investigating and prosecuting alleged 
extrajudicial killings, particularly those of labor leaders and 
activists (ref A).  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On February 7, the Ambassador joined Labor and Employment 
Secretary Arturo Brion and World Vision Philippines Executive 
 
SIPDIS 
Director Elnora Avarientos to inaugurate a USG-funded project to 
support and enhance the Philippine government's efforts to eliminate 
the worst forms of child labor.  In September, the U.S. Department 
of Labor (USDOL) awarded a grant of $5.5 million to a collective 
group of three NGOs - World Vision, Christian Children's Fund, and 
the Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation. 
World Vision and the other NGOs will work closely with local 
government leaders, teachers, and parents in at-risk communities to 
raise awareness about the hazards of exploitative child labor and to 
help return many former child laborers to the classroom. 
 
¶3. (U) The four-year project seeks to remove 18,000 children and 
prevent another 12,000 from engaging in hazardous work in sugarcane 
plantations, domestic work, commercial sexual exploitation, mining 
and quarrying, garbage scavenging, and firecracker manufacturing. 
World Vision will build upon the partnerships and collaborative 
efforts of its previous USDOL-funded project, known as "the ABK 
Initiative," in which more than 31,000 children were removed or 
prevented from engaging in the worst forms of child labor from 2003 
to 2007.  The Philippine government estimates that as many as four 
million children aged 5 to 17 years are economically active; of 
these four million, 60 percent may be working in hazardous and 
dangerous environments. 
 
¶4. (U) The Ambassador commended the Departments of Education and 
Labor and Employment for their partnerships with NGOs both to remove 
children from the worst forms of child labor and to improve the 
educational opportunities for these children in at-risk communities. 
 The event attracted a mix of print and broadcast media, leading to 
several articles in the major dailies that featured the Ambassador's 
remarks and information about the new grant.  Post will forward 
highlights of the press coverage, as well as a copy of the 
Ambassador's remarks, to the U.S. Department of Labor and EAP. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador also used the opportunity to raise with 
Secretary Brion USG concerns about labor rights protection and the 
 
SIPDIS 
alleged extrajudicial killings of labor leaders, as requested by the 
USG interagency committee reviewing the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) benefits for the Philippines (ref A).  Secretary 
Brion, well aware of the ongoing GSP review in Washington, noted his 
commitment to resolving the matter and appreciated the USG's 
recommendations.  Senior members of the Mission's country team will 
continue to raise these concerns with Philippine government 
officials at the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Interior 
and Local Government, Labor and Employment, and Trade and 
Investment.  These meetings are ongoing and will be reported 
septel. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
KENNEY