VZCZCXRO5273
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #1383/01 1621039
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101039Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0943
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 MANILA 001383 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR (Mittelhauser), G/TIP (Steiner), EAP/MTS, 
EAP/RSP 
LABOR FOR ILAB (Rigby) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI RP
 
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES: FORCED LABOR AND EXPLOITATIVE CHILD LABOR IN 
THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS 
 
REF: A. STATE 43120 (Forced Labor and Child Labor) 
¶B. MANILA 539 (2008 Trafficking in Persons Report) 
¶C. 07 MANILA 3857 (2007 Child Labor Update) 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: This cable provides input for the Department of Labor's 
request for information on forced labor and exploitative child labor 
in the production of goods as mandated by the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (ref A).  Post's point of 
contact for child labor and forced labor issues is Political Officer 
Barry Fullerton (E-mail: FullertonTB@state.gov; Phone: 
+63-2-301-2350; Fax: +63-2-301-2472).  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Goods Produced Using Exploitative Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. After surveying available data as well as interviewing primary 
contacts on labor issues, Post determined that the following goods 
are sometimes produced with exploitative child labor in the 
Philippines: a) sugarcane; b) firecrackers and other pyrotechnic 
articles; c) gold ores; d) tobacco; and e) fish.  There are 
scattered anecdotal reports that child labor is sometimes used in 
producing other agricultural products, such as rice, bananas, and 
mangoes; however, Post could find no reliable data on the subject. 
 
------------ 
¶A. Sugarcane 
------------ 
 
Since sugarcane is one of the largest crops in the Philippines, 
sugar plantations are scattered throughout the country, with the 
biggest concentrations in the provinces of Negros Occidental and 
Negros Oriental in the Visayas - two provinces that produced 57 
percent of the country's total sugar production in 2007.  In 2002, 
the International Labor Organization International Program on the 
Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimated that 60,000 children 
worked in sugarcane plantations nationwide.  The ILO-IPEC Time-Bound 
Program Baseline Survey in 2006 accounted for 5,583 children working 
in the sugarcane industry.  Various government and non-government 
studies have documented the presence of child labor in sugarcane 
plantations in the provinces of Bukidnon, Leyte, Negros Occidental, 
Negros Oriental, Sarangani, and Tarlac.  The underage workers on 
sugarcane plantations are typically the children of adult sugar 
workers or peasants who live on or just outside the plantations. 
 
Child laborers are involved in the cane-growing phase of sugar 
production, engaging in weeding, plowing, and fertilizing during 
pre-production period and the cutting and hauling of cane during 
harvest season.  Children aged seven to 10 years old allegedly help 
to plant the cane and to weed or clear the fields of tall grasses 
using large cutting knives called "bolos." 
 
Both adults and children carry heavy loads of cane in order to earn 
more money for their families.  Carrying heavy loads of cane is not 
only strenuous work for children but also reportedly causes injuries 
and accidents, such as breaking of shoulders or spines, and other 
physical damage to their developing bodies.  Children are also 
exposed to the hazards of extreme heat and the use of dangerous 
tools. 
 
Sources of Information: 
 
ILO-IPEC Supporting the Time-Bound Program on the Elimination of the 
Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Republic of the Philippines, 
¶2002. 
 
ILO-IPEC, March 2006. Time-Bound Program Baseline Survey: 
Integrative Report. 
 
Center for Investigative Research and Multimedia Services (CIRMS), 
July 2005. Ang Mga Batang Negros: A Study on Child Labor Incidence 
and Dynamics 
 
De Boer, Jennifer, June 2005. Sweet Hazards:  Child Labor on 
Sugarcane Plantations in the Philippines. Terre des Hommes. 
 
Rollolazo, Mildred and Luisa Logan, 2002. An In-Depth Study on the 
Situation of Child Labor in the Agriculture Sector. ILO-IPEC. 
 
Apit, Alejandro, January 2002. Child Labor in the Sugar Plantations: 
A Cursory Assessment. ILO-IPEC. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶B. Firecrackers and other pyrotechnic articles 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
MANILA 00001383  002 OF 006 
 
 
The pyrotechnics industry in the Philippines is largely a 
household-based, micro-level enterprise.  Although there are a few 
licensed large-scale manufacturers, pyrotechnics production 
typically follows a sub-contracting supply chain wherein a buyer or 
distributor orders the materials from a small producer.  These small 
producers then share the orders with groups of families with small 
workshops in their backyards or within their villages.  These 
unlicensed workshops lack safety policies and procedures.  With no 
technological improvements, the manufacturers still use a crude 
method of manual production with simple tools. 
 
Many NGOs have reported that children aged five to 15 years old work 
in the pyrotechnics industry, and an ILO-IPEC baseline survey in 
2006 found 1,718 children working in the pyrotechnics industry. 
Child workers are involved in easy tasks such as folding of brown 
paper into a funnel shape and rolling and pasting cylindrical paper 
tubes, both of which will be later filled with chemical powders; the 
wrapping of dried fuses soaked in charcoal, potassium chlorate, 
sulfur and starches; and the wrapping and labeling of finished 
pyrotechnic products into packages or carton boxes.  Children below 
18 years old are not allowed by law to place the chemicals, a 
mixture of potassium perchlorate, sulfur, aluminum, and ammonium 
nitrate, into the folded or rolled paper containers.  However, some 
studies and NGOs observed older children aged 15 to 17 years old 
helping adults in loading the chemical mixtures into the paper 
containers and in inserting and sealing the fuses of firecrackers. 
 
Children are introduced to the work without any training or 
orientation on potential hazards to their health and life.  Although 
most child laborers are not directly handling dangerous chemicals, 
the pyrotechnics workshops are located near the children's homes or 
in their own backyards, thus exposing the children to highly 
flammable and combustible substances.  Many children reportedly 
suffer from dizziness, asthma, weight loss, sore eyes, backaches and 
breathing difficulties. 
 
Sources of Information: 
 
Ao, Daisy Elena, February 2002. A Cursory Assessment Study on the 
Situation of Child Labor in the Pyrotechnics Industry in the 
Philippines. ILO-IPEC. 
 
Balabo, Dino. "Change Comes Slowly to the Pyrotechnic Industry." 
Manila Times. December 31, 2003 
 
Edralin, Divina, September 2002. In-Depth Study on the Situation of 
Child Labor in the Pyrotechnics Industry. ILO-IPEC. 
 
ILO-IPEC, December 2005. Employers' Demand for Child Labor in the 
Pyrotechnics and Fashion Accessories Industries in the Philippines. 
 
 
ILO-IPEC, March 2006. Time-Bound Program Baseline Survey: 
Integrative Report. 
 
Interview with World Vision Development Foundation ABK 2 program 
manager, April 29, 2008. 
 
------------ 
¶C. Gold ores 
------------ 
 
A 2001 National Statistics Office (NSO) survey identified 18,000 
children aged five to 17 years old working in the mining and 
quarrying industries, of which approximately 50 percent were between 
10 and 14 years old. 
 
Child laborers typically work in small-scale mining sites, 
particularly the gold mines and gold rush areas in the provinces of 
Camarines Norte and Masbate in the Bicol Region, and Bukidnon, 
Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, and Surigao del Norte in 
Mindanao.  An ILO-IPEC project reported that it had withdrawn or 
prevented 2,287 children from engaging in hazardous work in mining 
areas from 2002 to 2007, while a similar World Vision project 
reported that it had withdrawn or prevented 1,519 children from 
doing such work from 2003 to 2007. 
 
Extraction and production methods in small-scale mining are 
labor-intensive and hazardous, and often utilize improvised 
low-level technologies.  These small-scale mining areas are 
typically located in rural communities, where the lack of other 
livelihood opportunities, particularly during off-season for farming 
and fishing, pushes these communities to engage in mining.  The 
mining projects typically operate outside government oversight or 
regulation. 
 
 
MANILA 00001383  003 OF 006 
 
 
Families often involve their children in the gold industry.  Child 
laborers are reportedly involved in all phases of gold mining, from 
extraction to processing, as well as collecting, sorting, and 
transporting the aggregate, or cooking and cleaning the aggregate 
under hazardous conditions and in locations far removed from 
educational facilities or adequate social services.  Children work 
in make-shift tunnels exposing them to risks of landslides and 
tunnel collapses.  The use of mercury in gold ore processing has 
resulted in numerous cases of mercury poisoning. 
 
Sources of Information: 
 
ILO-IPEC. 2007. Final Technical Report of the IPEC Time-Bound 
Program for the Philippines. 
 
ILO-IPEC, March 2006. Time-Bound Program Baseline Survey: 
Integrative Report. 
 
National Statistics Office. 2001. Survey on Children 5-17 Years 
Old. 
 
Tuazon, Kennedy. 2002. in-Depth Study on the Worst Forms of Child 
labor in Mining and Quarrying  Industries in the Philippines. 
ILO-IPEC. 
 
World Vision Development Foundation. 2008. Presentation on the Final 
Results of the ABK Initiative (Phase 1). 
 
---------- 
¶D. Tobacco 
---------- 
 
Government and NGO studies have found the presence of child labor in 
tobacco plantations in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and 
Pangasinan in Northern Luzon, all among the top provinces producing 
tobacco in the country.  Although there are no available estimates 
on the number of children working on tobacco plantations, a 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) program from 2003 to 2006, 
the Elimination of Child Labor in Tobacco Industry, withdrew and 
assisted 100 children, who were either frequently absent or dropped 
out of school to help their family in the tobacco farms.  The 
program was renewed for a second phase to be implemented from 2007 
to 2009, with the goal of withdrawing and assisting 200 child 
workers from tobacco farms. 
 
Child laborers are typically involved in tobacco seedbed 
preparation, which includes the cultivation of plants for water 
percolation, weeding, plowing of seedbeds, and assisting adults to 
spray chemical fertilizers.  The children also help plant, 
transplant, water, and apply fertilizer to the tobacco seedlings. 
During harvest time, children harvest the grown tobacco leaves and 
attach the leaves to bamboo sticks for sun-drying. 
 
On average, children work part-time from two to three hours on 
schooldays and as long as 10 hours on weekends.  The long hours of 
work in hot weather and the use of heavy equipment deprives the 
child laborers of sleep and causes fatigue.  The children also 
suffer injuries from the use of tools, dermatitis from the 
over-exposure to the sun and fertilizer, and bites and stings from 
insects in the farm.  The exposure to toxic chemicals during 
spraying and fertilizer application can also be hazardous to the 
children's health.  Some children also suffer from asthma and 
rhinitis as a result of their contact with tobacco leaves. 
 
Sources of information: 
 
DOLE Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW) response to U.S. 
Embassy, Manila request for information on the use of worst forms of 
child labor and forced labor in the production of goods. May 15, 
¶2008. 
 
Eliminating Child Labor in the Tobacco Industry (ECLT) Foundation 
website, http://www.eclt.org. 
 
Gapasin, Ernesto. 2003. Involvement and Participation of Child Labor 
in the Tobacco Industry in Region I. 
 
Torres, Amaryllis, et. al. February  2002. Rapid Appraisal of Child 
Labor in the Tobacco Industry: Case Studies in Two Ilocos Provinces. 
 PARTNERS International. 
 
------- 
¶E. Fish 
------- 
 
According to the 2001 NSO Survey, approximately 208,000 children 
 
MANILA 00001383  004 OF 006 
 
 
aged 5 to 17 years old worked in the fishing industry.  Forty-seven 
percent of these children belonged to the age group 5 to 14 years, 
and 91 percent were boys.  Results of three 2001 ILO-IPEC studies in 
Negros Oriental and Cebu identified 800 children below 18 years old 
involved in or at risk of hazardous work in the fishing industry in 
the two provinces.  ILO-IPEC and World Vision projects combating 
child labor withdrew or prevented a total of 4,191 children from 
hazardous work in the deep sea fishing industry. 
 
Employees of fishing operators called "canvassers," and sometimes 
even relatives, recruit both adult and child laborers from coastal 
and upland areas to join on deep-sea fishing expeditions.  The 
canvassers give cash advances from 2,000 to 5,000 pesos ($47 to 
$116) to the parents of the children.  Some parents also take their 
children on these fishing trips.  Fishing expeditions typically last 
from six to ten months. The main fish species caught include 
roundscad, Indian sardines, Frigate tuna, skipjack, yellowfin tuna, 
big-eyed scad, slipmouth, Indian mackerel and anchovies. 
 
There are two fishing methods in which children are typically 
involved - "pa-aling" and "kubkub."  The "pa-aling" method requires 
fishermen to swim and dive into deep waters to scare fish from the 
coral.  Hoses are attached to surface air compressors to form a 
bubble curtain to force fish into the fishermen's nets.  Children 
also help fishermen to repair damaged equipment and to operate small 
motor boats.  Children reportedly work an average of 11 hours each 
day and start as early as three o'clock in the morning.  Many child 
laborers on "pa-aling" expeditions complain of body pains, cuts, 
wounds, skin diseases, eye and hearing impairment, paralysis, body 
burns, exhaustion, fatigue.  Children also reported that 
maltreatment by the boat captain was common. 
 
Child workers in "kubkub" fishing operations, a method in which a 
ring net trawls behind the boat, are often assigned more difficult 
tasks such as pulling the nets, carrying and lifting coolers, 
pulling up the anchor, loading ice for the boat, operating the 
winch, pulling up the weights and collecting fish using scoop nets. 
Children on "kubkub" expeditions reported risks such as falling off 
the boat, drowning, body burns, or becoming entangled in the 
winches, ropes, or nets on the boats. 
 
Sources of information: 
 
DOLE Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW) response to U.S. 
Embassy, Manila request for information on the use of worst forms of 
child labor and forced labor in the production of goods. May 15, 
¶2008. 
 
Remedio, Elizabeth. 2002. Children in Pa-aling and Kubkub Fishing 
Expeditions: An Assessment Report for the Deep-Sea and Fishing 
Sector Studies. ILO-IPEC. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
¶F. Other Commercial Agricultural Products 
----------------------------------------- 
 
Although there are few available in-depth studies on child labor in 
other commercial agricultural products, several NGOs report having 
identified children working on farms producing other agricultural 
products than sugarcane and tobacco.  However, it is difficult to 
determine the rate of incidence without further data or additional 
anecdotal evidence. 
 
The Kamalayan Development Foundation and ECLIPSE (Exodus from Child 
Labor to Integration, Play, Socialization and Education), both 
member organizations of the National Coalition Against Child Labor 
in Commercial Agriculture, conducted investigations in commercial 
agriculture and identified child workers working on farms producing 
rice, corn, sugar, pineapple, tobacco, rubber, onion, asparagus, 
durian, tiger grass, cassava, and mangoes.  World Vision witnessed 
children working on rice, corn, and banana plantations in areas 
where the organization implemented its anti-child labor program.  An 
ILO-IPEC study identified child laborers in sugar, rubber, banana 
and pineapple farming. 
 
There are no available estimates on the number of child laborers 
working in these specific crop farms.  According to the 2001 NSO 
survey, 1.3 million children aged 5 to 14 years old were found 
working in commercial agriculture, 59 percent of the total number of 
working children in the same age group.  An ILO-IPEC baseline survey 
accounted for 7,690 children working in other commercial agriculture 
farms. 
 
Child laborers on rice and corn farms are involved in land 
preparation, planting of seedlings, applying fertilizer, weeding, 
and harvesting.  Farm owners directly hire child laborers during the 
 
MANILA 00001383  005 OF 006 
 
 
planting and harvesting seasons.  Cildren earn between 40 and 150 
pesos ($0.93 to $.50) a day, depending on the tasks assigned to 
tem.  Owners of large fruit plantations producing pneapple, 
banana, mango and durian usually do nothire child workers directly. 
 The owners contractentire families to work on specific tasks or 
harest quotas in exchange for a fixed salary.  Childrn in fruit 
plantations perform similar tasks as dults, including land and 
seedling preparation, lanting, applying fertilizers, spraying 
pesticide, and harvesting. 
 
Child laborers in agricultureare exposed to physical, chemical and 
biologicalhazards.  Children perform heavy physical labor an work 
long hours, often enduring extremely hot tmperatures.  On fruit 
farms, children are prone t slipping and falling from the fruit 
trees.  The are exposed to silica dust, sawdust and toxic cheicals 
from the fertilizers and pesticides they aply to the plants.  The 
children are also prone o fungal and bacterial infections as a 
result of he work on the farms. 
 
Sources of information: 
Interviews with World Vision Development Foundatin ABK 2 program 
manager, April 29, 2008; and Kamlayan Development Foundation, May 
23, 2008. 
 
Ntional Coalition Against Child Labor in Commercial griculture 
(NCACLCA). March 2007. Child Labor inCommercial Agriculture in the 
Philippines: A Sitationer. 
 
National Statistics Office. 2001 Surve on Children 5-17 Years Old. 
 
Rollolazo, Mildredand Luisa Logan, 2002. An In-Depth Study on the 
Stuation of Child Labor in the Agriculture Sector. LO-IPEC. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Gods Produced Using Forced Labor 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. There is no available informtion that would indicate significant 
incidence of forced labor in the production of goods in the 
Philippines.  Post's research and inquiries with government, 
non-governmental and international organizations yielded no evidence 
of widespread forced labor in the production of any particular 
good. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Isolated Incident of Forced Labor 
--------------------------------- 
 
In 2006, there was an isolated incident of trafficking for forced 
labor on a sugarcane plantation in the Batangas province.  A group 
of 21 males, ranging from 15 to 39 years old, were recruited from 
the province of Zambales to work on a sugarcane plantation in 
Batangas. The workers were promised an initial daily salary of 120 
pesos ($2.80) and were given a cash advance of 500 pesos ($11.63). 
They worked 12 hours each day, harvesting and loading sugarcane in 
trucks.  A group of 10 to 15 workers were to be paid 1,000 pesos 
($23.25), which they would divide among themselves, for every ton of 
sugarcane harvested and loaded into the trucks.  In actuality, each 
worker earned only 66 to 100 pesos ($1.53 to $2.32), below the 
declared salary and far below the prevailing minimum wage of 268 
pesos ($6.23) per day. 
 
The workers lived in makeshift barracks and were deprived of 
adequate amounts of food.  The management of the farm threatened to 
deprive the workers of food if they were caught not working and to 
kill them if they attempted to escape the farm.  Four of the workers 
managed to escape and reported the situation to a local NGO.  In 
December 2006, the National Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid 
and rescued the remaining workers in the plantation.  The case 
remains open pending further investigation. 
 
------------------- 
Use of Prison Labor 
------------------- 
 
There is no recent available information on the use of prison labor 
in the production of goods in the Philippines.  The DOLE reported a 
1998 fact-finding survey and evaluation on the use of prisoners as 
industrial, agricultural, or handicraft workers in seven penal 
facilities.  According to DOLE's survey, the Philippine Bureau of 
Corrections entered into joint venture agreements with two private 
companies to employ inmates at Manila's New Bilibid Prison and the 
Davao Prison and Penal Farm. 
 
A company engaged in the manufacturing and export of bamboo 
 
MANILA 00001383  006 OF 006 
 
 
handicrafts, wood sculptures, printed decor, and artificial flowers 
engaged the services of inmates in the New Bilibid Prison.  The 
production site was located within the medium security compound of 
the prison.  Inmate workers were paid based on per-piece rate.  The 
Bureau of Corrections also entered into a joint venture agreement 
with a neighboring banana farm at its Davao Prison and Penal Farm. 
Inmates worked on the farm and were paid the daily minimum wage. 
The respondents to the survey in both prisons indicated that they 
worked voluntarily and that they could refuse to work or terminate 
their service anytime they wish. 
 
There were no other reported cases of forced labor during the period 
covered by the report. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Government Initiatives to Combat 
Forced Labor and Child Labor 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. The Philippines has a strong set of laws to address the worst 
forms of child labor and to criminalize the use of forced labor or 
trafficked persons.  DOLE is the lead government agency responsible 
for enforcing child labor and forced labor laws through its labor 
standards enforcement offices. DOLE employs only approximately 200 
labor inspectors nationwide to monitor and enforce all aspects of 
the amended Labor Code, making it difficult to investigate 
complaints and violations effectively. 
 
The Republic of the Philippines has signed and ratified the major 
international agreements to protect the rights and welfare of 
children, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 
(ratified in January 1990); the Optional Protocol on the Sale of 
Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (ratified in 
April 2002); ILO Convention 138 on Minimum Age (ratified in June 
1998); and ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
(ratified in November 2000).  The Philippines ratified ILO 
convention 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor in 1960. 
 
Specific details on the government's child labor programs can be 
found in Post's annual Child Labor Update (ref C).  Although there 
is no existing government program addressing forced labor 
specifically, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 penalizes 
the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt 
of persons for purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor, 
slavery, and involuntary servitude.  The Labor Code also penalizes 
the use of forced labor. 
 
KENNEY