World Report 2017 | Philippines | Human Rights Watch

Rodrigo Duterte took office as president of the Philippines on June 30, 2016. Duterte campaigned
on an explicit platform to “kill all of you who make the lives of Filipinos miserable,” including
criminal suspects, as part of his vow to “solve drugs, criminality, and corruption in three to six
months.” At his inauguration, he pledged that his administration would “be sensitive to the state’s
obligations to promote, and protect, fulfill the human rights of our citizens … even as the rule of law
shall at all times prevail.” During the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, however, Duterte
has publicly praised the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug dealers and drug users.
Philippine human rights groups have linked the campaign and Duterte’s often-fiery rhetoric to a
surge of killings by police and unidentified gunmen since he took office, with nearly 4,800 people
killed at time of writing. Police say that individuals targeted by police were killed only after they
“resisted arrest and shot at police officers,” but have provided no evidence to support the claim. The
killings have highlighted the country’s long-standing problem of impunity for abusive state security
forces.
Other key issues confronting the Philippines this past year include the rights of indigenous peoples,
violations of reproductive health rights, child labor, and stigma and discrimination related to the
HIV/AIDS crisis.
Extrajudicial Killings
The Philippines has seen an unprecedented level of killing by law enforcement since Duterte took
office. Police statistics show that from July 1 to November 3, 2016, police killed an estimated 1,790
suspected “drug pushers and users.” That death toll constitutes a nearly 20-fold jump over the 68
such police killings recorded between January 1 and June 15, 2016. Police statistics attribute an
additional 3,001 killings of alleged drug dealers and drug users to unknown vigilantes from July 1 to
September 4. The police categorize those killings as “deaths under investigation,” but there is no
evidence that police are actively probing the circumstances in which they occurred.
In August, Philippine National Police Director-General Ronald Dela Rosa stated that he did not
“condone” extrajudicial killings. In September, Police Internal Affairs Service sources said they were
“overwhelmed” by the scale of police killings and could only probe “a fraction” of the deaths.
Duterte has ignored calls for an official probe into these killings. Instead, he has said the killings
show the “success” of his anti-drug campaign and urged police to “seize the momentum.” Key senior
officials have endorsed this view. Duterte’s top judicial official, Solicitor-General Jose Calida,
defended the legality of the police killings and opined that the number of such deaths was “not
enough.”
Attacks on Indigenous Peoples
In March 2016, some 6,000 protesters, primarily indigenous peoples, farmers, and their supporters
from drought-stricken areas in North Cotabato and Bukidnon provinces gathered in Kidapawan
City in Mindanao to call for government food aid and other assistance. The police response included
shooting live ammunition into the crowd, killing two people. At time of writing, neither the Senate
nor police have released the results of their respective investigations into the incident.
Reproductive Health Rights
In his July 25 State of the Nation Address, President Duterte pledged to “put into full force and
effect” the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (the RH Law). Such support is
greatly needed because on January 8, 2016, the Philippine Congress eliminated funding in the 2016
national budget for contraception guaranteed under the RH Law, cutting vital support for lower-
income individuals. Millions of Filipinos rely on state-provided contraceptive services and supplies
for protection from sexually transmitted infections, and for safe birth-spacing and family planning.
The United Nations Population Fund has criticized the congressional action as a threat to “the basic
human right to health as well as the right to reproductive choices.”
Human Rights Watch has also documented policies implemented by local governments designed to
derail full enforcement of the RH Law. In Sorsogon City in the Bicol region, Mayor Sally Lee issued
an executive order in February 2015 that declared the city a “pro-life city.” Although the order does
not explicitly prohibit family planning services and contraceptive supplies, health workers, and
advocates said that the city government gave oral guidelines to the city’s public clinics to cease the
distribution of family planning supplies and instead promote only “natural” family planning
methods such as the Catholic Church-approved “rhythm method.”
In Balanga City, the municipal government banned local public health officials and clinics from
procuring or distributing contraceptives. That interruption compelled low-income people to either
buy them from pharmacies or clandestinely from local government-employed midwives at
relatively high cost.
Children’s Rights
In November 2015, the Philippine government detained more than 140 children in advance of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. The arbitrary detentions were part of
so-called clearing operations aimed at beautifying the city ahead of the summit. Police detained the
children under guard in government facilities for the homeless and orphans and then released them
without charge when the summit concluded.
Child labor in small-scale gold mines remains a serious problem. Children work in unstable 25-
meter-deep pits, dive underwater to mine, and process gold with mercury. Small steps taken by
authorities to tackle child labor—such as vocational training for former child miners in one mining
town—have been undermined by continued lack of regulation of the small-scale gold mining sector,
and by the government's failure to address child labor systematically.
HIV Epidemic
Although national prevalence is still low, the country has experienced a sharp rise in new HIV
infections in recent years. Prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) has increased 10-
fold since 2010. In 2015, the Department of Health reported that at least 11 cities registered HIV
prevalence rates among MSM of more than 5 percent, with one—Cebu City, the second largest
city—recording a 15 percent prevalence rate in 2015. That compares to a 0.2 percent HIV
prevalence rate for the Asia-Pacific region and a 4.7 percent HIV prevalence rate in Sub-Saharan
Africa, which has the most serious HIV epidemic in the world.
There has also been an increase in Cebu City in HIV prevalance among pregnant women, and in
newly recorded infections among people who inject drugs in Cebu City, where the prevalence rate
among such people has been recorded at between 40 and 50 percent. Many of these new infections
among people who inject drugs are due to sharing contaminated needles.
The growing HIV epidemic is driven by a legal and policy environment hostile to evidence-based
policies and interventions that could help prevent HIV transmission. Such restrictions are found in
national, provincial, and local government policies, and are compounded by the resistance of the
Catholic Church to sexual health education and condom use. Government policies create obstacles
to condom access and HIV testing, limit educational efforts on HIV prevention, and have ended
harm reduction programs in Cebu City that were previously distributing sterile injecting equipment
to people who inject drugs.
The Philippine government is fueling a rising human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic
among men who have sex with men through policies that restrict interventions proven to prevent
transmission of the virus.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The House of Representatives began consideration of House Bill 267, the “Anti SOGI (Sexual
Orientation or Gender Identity) Discrimination Act” in June 2016. If approved, it will criminalize
discrimination in the employment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and
prohibit schools from refusing to register or expelling students on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity. The Senate has introduced companion legislation, Senate Bill No. 935, otherwise
known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB), which had its first hearing in August.
House Bill 267 will also sensitize police and law enforcement officers on LGBT issues and train
them to attend to complaints. These initiatives are essential given that LGBT rights advocacy groups
have warned that hate crimes against LGBT people are on the rise and that the Philippines has
recorded the highest number of murders of transgender individuals in Southeast Asia since 2008.
The bill would also prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in access to health care.
Key International Actors
The United States remains a key source of military financial assistance, with the Obama
administration allotting US$120 million for 2016. Earlier military financing was conditioned on
improvements of the human rights situation in the Philippines, but this conditionality has been
lifted as part of the Obama administration’s so-called “Asia pivot.” President Duterte has expressed
dissatisfaction with US-Philippines relations, even saying he is willing to expel US military
personnel stationed in the Philippines, but conceded that the country still needs US military help
because of the South China Sea dispute with China.
Other countries such as Canada and Australia, as well as the European Union, continue to provide
assistance to the Philippines for, among other things, capacity-building programs to improve the
human rights situation. Spain has given funds and resources to the national Philippine Commission
on Human Rights.
In November, the US State Department announced that it had suspended the sale of 26,000 military
assault rifles to the Philippine National Police due to human rights concerns raised by Duterte’s
abusive “war on drugs.” The EU has transitioned its rule of law program called EPJUST II, which
involved training the police and other law enforcement agencies, into GOJUST, which is tasked with
instituting justice sector reforms.
Freedom of the Press 2017

Philippines
Profile
Press Freedom Status:
PARTLY FREE

Freedom of the Press Scores

Total Score44/10044/10044/10044/100
(0=Most Free, 100=Least Free)
14/3014/3014/3014/30Legal Environment
20/4020/4020/4020/40Political Environment
10/3010/3010/3010/30Economic Environment
Quick Facts
Population:
102,600,000
Freedom in the World Status:
Partly Free
Net Freedom Status:
Free
Internet Penetration Rate:
40.7%

Key Developments in 2016:

 Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines in May. His hostile rhetoric against
the media inflamed an already dangerous environment for journalists and raised concerns
about his government’s commitment to upholding press freedom.
  In July, Duterte issued an executive order creating the country’s first freedom of
information regime, but its narrow scope and high number of exceptions limit its impact.
 Duterte in October issued an order creating a special task force on journalists’ safety, which
was empowered to investigate crimes against journalists. However, no major investigations
had begun by year’s end.
 Two people were convicted of murdering journalists in 2016. Nevertheless, the Philippines
remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism, and violent
attacks against media workers usually go unpunished.
Executive Summary
Public and private media in the Philippines offer a wide range of views and provide coverage of
controversial topics, including counterinsurgency campaigns and high-level corruption cases.
However, media freedom is compromised by the threat of legal action, including under criminal
defamation laws, and the Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for
journalists. Existing legal protections have generally failed to prevent or punish acts of violence,
leading to an entrenched climate of impunity. And while the media collectively offer a broad
spectrum of viewpoints, outlets are often accused of providing sensationalist content rather than
investigative journalism and useful analysis.
Hostile rhetoric toward members of the media by Duterte further exacerbated an already perilous
situation for journalists in the Philippines; Duterte, for example, weeks after his election asserted
that “corrupt” reporters “are not exempted from assassination.” Journalists who investigated the
Duterte administration’s role in extrajudicial killings carried out as part of its war on drugs
frequently faced harassment and death threats. In a move designed to address journalists’
longstanding concerns about their safety, President Duterte in October issued an order creating the
Presidential Task Force on Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty, and Security of the Members of
the Media, which was empowered to investigate crimes against journalists. However, no major
investigations were initiated by year’s end.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), three reporters were murdered in 2016.
Though none of the killings could be definitively linked to the victims’ work, each had reported on
sensitive issues, including official corruption and organized crime. While two people were
convicted of murdering journalists in 2016, impunity for such crimes remains the norm.
Despite an ongoing campaign by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the country
lacks a robust freedom of information law, and national security and privacy justifications are
regularly employed to obstruct access to government information. In July 2016, Duterte issued an
executive order that established a limited access to information regime over the country’s executive
branch. However, transparency advocates criticized the order’s long list of exceptions, which they
said effectively nullified its utility. The order did not apply to the legislature or judicial system.
Legal Environment: 14 / 30
Political Environment: 20 / 40
Economic Environment: 10 / 30
Philippines
OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

2017 Trafficking in Persons Report

Tier 1

PHILIPPINES: Tier 1
The Government of the Philippines fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, the Philippines remained on Tier 1. The government demonstrated
serious and sustained efforts by convicting and punishing more traffickers, identifying more victims
through proactive screening procedures, and expanding its efforts to prevent trafficking of Filipino
migrant workers. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not expand the
availability and quality of protection and assistance services for trafficking victims, particularly
mental health care and services for male victims. Further, the government did not vigorously
investigate and prosecute officials allegedly involved in trafficking crimes or expand its pilot
program to address the backlog of trafficking cases in the courts.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES
Increase the availability of specialized comprehensive services that address the specific needs of
trafficking victims, with a particular focus on expanding access to mental health care and services
for male victims; increase efforts to achieve expedited victim-centered prosecution of trafficking
cases, especially in cases involving child victims; increase efforts to investigate and prosecute
officials for trafficking and trafficking-related offenses; increase efforts to identify internal labor
trafficking victims, especially children, and prosecute labor trafficking cases; expand the victim and
witness protection program to cover an increased percentage of trafficking victims throughout
criminal justice proceedings; develop and implement programs aimed at reducing the demand for
commercial sex acts, including child sex tourism and online child sexual exploitation; expand
government support for long-term specialized services for trafficking victims that may be provided
by the government or NGOs; expand efforts to prevent re-traumatization caused by multiple
interviews and facilitate timely reintegration of child victim witnesses with community-based
follow-up services; increase training for community members and military and law enforcement
personnel on appropriate methods to protect children officially disengaged from armed groups and
vigorously investigate allegations of abuse by officials; and develop and implement a data collection
system across Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) agencies to facilitate monitoring,
analysis, and reporting of government-wide anti-trafficking activities, including victim
identification, services provided, investigations, prosecutions, and convictions disaggregated by
common data elements such as type of trafficking and age and sex of identified victims.
PROSECUTION
The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The 2003 and 2012 anti-trafficking acts
criminalize sex and labor trafficking and prescribe penalties of six years to life imprisonment plus
fines of up to 5 million pesos ($100,820), which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The law defines purchasing commercial sex
acts from a child as a trafficking offense. From April 1 to December 31, 2016, the National Bureau of
Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTRAD), the Philippine National Police Women
and Children’s Protection Center (WCPC), which has responsibility for police investigations of
trafficking cases, and IACAT Taskforces investigated 553 suspected trafficking cases, including
conducting 109 surveillance operations and 55 raids, compared with 329 cases investigated in
2015. These actions led to the arrest of 272 suspects, an increase from 151 in 2015. During the
reporting period, the government initiated prosecution of 441 alleged traffickers (569 in 2015) and
secured convictions of 55 traffickers (42 traffickers in 2015). These cases involved 131 victims, 78
of whom were children. Of the 20 labor trafficking cases prosecuted, none resulted in a conviction.
Sentences imposed ranged from 15 years to life imprisonment, with most offenders sentenced to
life imprisonment. The government filed no criminal cases to punish the recruitment and use of
child soldiers by armed groups operating in areas affected by the ongoing insurgency.
At the close of the reporting period, more than 1,100 trafficking cases filed in court in 2016 or in
previous years remained pending in the judicial system due to endemic inefficiencies such as non-
continuous trials, large caseloads, limited resources, and in some cases, corruption. In addition,
delays in allocating funds to IACAT taskforces reportedly reduced the number of raids during the
reporting period. Although the government convicted four perpetrators of online sexual
exploitation of children, police and prosecutors reported challenges with these cases, including
difficulty in obtaining search warrants, insufficient personnel, inadequate resources for operations
logistics and computer evidence analysis, and the need for training on presenting digital evidence in
court. During the reporting period, the government’s investigation and prosecution of these cases
relied substantially on the support and cooperation of foreign law enforcement and NGOs. Although
the government regularly collected data on law enforcement investigation and cases filed with
prosecutors’ offices and the courts, a lack of case-specific information impeded analysis of anti-
trafficking enforcement efforts.
The government increased its efforts to provide anti-trafficking training to its officials. IACAT
taskforces conducted 269 trainings in 2016, including 20 online seminars, reaching more than
6,800 government officials, including investigators, prosecutors, labor officers, and social service
personnel, and more than 14,000 civil society representatives. In addition, the IACAT Secretariat,
the WCPC, the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Philippine Judicial Academy, and the Department of
Labor and Employment conducted specialized training on anti-trafficking topics relevant for judges,
prosecutors, law enforcers, social workers, and labor focal persons; more than 3,400 individuals
attended these sessions, the majority of whom were government officials. The government also
partnered with NGOs and international organizations on the delivery of numerous training sessions
on human trafficking enforcement and protection in Manila, Cebu, and in Typhoon Haiyan-affected
areas. Philippine officials continued to cooperate with six other governments to pursue
international law enforcement action against suspected foreign traffickers in 12 cases, most of
which involved sexual exploitation of children.
During the reporting period, the government charged two police officers with sex trafficking in a
case involving online sexual exploitation of minors; the trial of a Department of Foreign Affairs
(DFA) official charged with trafficking was pending. The BI investigated 31 potential trafficking
cases involving allegedly complicit immigration officers; four BI officers were relieved of their
duties and two officers were under preliminary investigation before the prosecutor’s office.
PROTECTION
The government maintained protection efforts. Although the government did not report
comprehensive statistics for the total number of victims identified and assistance provided, the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported serving 1,713 possible trafficking
victims, of whom 1,434 were female, compared with 1,465 victims in 2015. DSWD reported
assisting 530 victims of illegal recruitment, 465 victims of sex trafficking and 232 victims of labor
trafficking. DFA, in collaboration with host governments, NGOs, and international organizations,
assisted 348 Filipino potential victims in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
DFA disbursed 1.6 million pesos ($33,160) from its Assistance to Nationals Fund exclusively for
trafficking victim protection and assistance and expended 209,700 pesos ($4,230) for legal
assistance to trafficking victims. Through its hotline, the Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO)
assisted 20 possible trafficking victims, of whom 15 were female and five minors. CFO allocated
800,000 pesos ($16,130) for direct assistance to trafficking victims and their families. The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported identifying 140 adult trafficking
victims, all but two of whom were victims of domestic servitude, but did not report information
about services provided to these victims. The government continued to implement formal
procedures to identify victims in the Philippines and overseas and to refer them to official agencies
or NGO facilities for care. Philippine officials identified victims through law enforcement
operations, border screenings, reports to embassies abroad, and calls to the national anti-trafficking
help line.
The government, through its recovery and reintegration program and in partnership with NGOs,
provided victims with temporary shelter, psycho-social support, medical services, legal assistance,
livelihood assistance, and skills training. It sustained an allocation of approximately 23 million
pesos ($463,790) to implement this program. DSWD continued to operate 44 residential care
facilities and two halfway houses at border entry points, which provided services to victims of
trafficking and other forms of exploitation, but it did not report the number of trafficking victims
who received temporary shelter. No DSWD shelter is designated solely for the specialized care of
for trafficking victims. Available shelter and other assistance services remained inadequate to
address the specific needs of victims, including child victims of online sexual exploitation and male
victims. Budget constraints continued to limit victim access to mental health services. Child sex
trafficking victims who resided in a shelter and participated as witnesses in prosecutions were
often interviewed multiple times and remained in the shelter through the time required for the
court case, which may have added additional trauma and delayed reintegration. Adult victims
residing in shelters were permitted to leave unchaperoned, provided there were no threats to their
personal security or psychological care issues. During the reporting period, Philippine officials
maintained a temporary shelter for male Filipino trafficking victims in Saudi Arabia. NGOs
delivered the vast majority of specialized services to trafficking victims, although the government
provided an unknown funding amount to one NGO-run shelter. The lack of long-term care, absence
of mental health services, and familial involvement in facilitating exploitation continued to leave
many victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.
In Mindanao, where protracted armed conflict and reports of recruitment and use of child soldiers
by armed groups continued, the government, in collaboration with international organizations,
established a hotline and conducted three Monitoring, Reporting, and Response System (MRRS)
workshops for 83 lawyers, investigators, and human rights advocates to facilitate reporting of grave
human rights violations, including child soldiering. The national government issued a circular to
local government units, instructing them to adopt the MRRS, and the military issued a circular on
child protection. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported the rescue or surrender of 19
children from the New People’s Army between January and August 2016, but it did not report
information about services to them. Through an action plan developed by the UN and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), approximately 178 children were disengaged from armed groups
during the reporting period and, in consultation with national and regional governments, an
international organization initiated a program to assist children disengaged from armed groups.
There were reports soldiers of the AFP detained and interrogated children, and in one instance
tortured a child, suspected of associating with armed groups. The Commission on Human Rights is
investigating the case of alleged torture. Also during the reporting period, municipal authorities
worked to reintegrate a child who has been working at an AFP camp for three years in a non-
combat role.
Under its witness protection program, justice officials protected witnesses from reprisals by
providing security, immunity from criminal prosecution, housing, livelihood and travel expenses,
medical benefits, education, and vocational placement. During the reporting period this program
assisted nine additional victims of trafficking and continued to provide services to 98 victims
enrolled in previous years. Judicial officials used restitution provisions and awarded damages to
victims; however, these monetary penalties imposed upon offenders often went unpaid due to
perpetrators’ financial incapacity or the complex legal process required when a convicted trafficker
is able to pay. NGOs confirmed government officials did not punish victims for unlawful acts
committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking. While the government did not identify
foreign victims in the Philippines during the reporting period, it had long-term alternatives to
deportation of victims to countries where victims may face hardship or retribution.
PREVENTION
The government maintained its robust efforts to prevent trafficking. The government conducted a
multi-stakeholder assessment of implementation of its 2012-2016 strategic plan to combat
trafficking and drafted, but did not release, its third strategic plan covering 2017-2021. The IACAT,
which includes three NGO members, and other government anti-trafficking taskforces met regularly
during the reporting period to share information and coordinate interagency policies. The IACAT’s
budget increased slightly from 93.2 million pesos ($1.88 million) in 2015 to 93.9 million pesos
($1.89 million) in 2016. The CFO continued its anti-trafficking national prevention campaign and
reached 9,400 individuals in 18 provinces. The POEA launched a social media campaign to educate
people about illegal recruitment that reached 1,736,818 social media users and expanded access to
its pre-employment orientation seminars, required for workers hired by licensed recruitment
agencies, by offering them online. During the reporting period, 851,170 individuals completed
seminars that provided information about worker protection, legal modes of recruitment,
employment procedures for overseas work, and government services available to overseas foreign
workers.
POEA officials investigated 108 cases, involving 245 complainants, of illegal recruitment in 2016;
four of 35 cases referred for prosecution resulted in a conviction, compared with six illegal
recruitment convictions in 2015. AHTRAD separately reported investigating 248 illegal recruitment
cases. The POEA filed 2,137 administrative charges against licensed agencies for fraudulent
employment offers or collecting exorbitant fees resulting in the cancellation of 49 agencies’
licenses. The BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit continued to screen departing passengers in
accordance with departure requirements and reported 667 potential cases of human trafficking for
further investigation and identified 601 possible victims of illegal recruitment. Despite stopping
118 foreign registered sex offenders from entering the country, local and foreign demand for the
country’s vast commercial sex trade remained high and the government’s efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts were negligible. The government provided anti-trafficking training
to Philippine troops and law enforcement officers prior to their deployment abroad on
international peacekeeping missions. During the reporting period, the DFA provided training on
human trafficking for its diplomatic personnel prior to overseas deployment, formally launched its
handbook on trafficking, and issued new guidelines to its foreign service personnel about
employment of personal staff.
TRAFFICKING PROFILE
As reported over the past five years, the Philippines is a source country and, to a lesser extent, a
destination and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. An estimated 10 million Filipinos work abroad, and a significant number of these
migrant workers are subjected to sex and labor trafficking—predominantly via debt bondage—in
the fishing, shipping, construction, education, home health care, and agricultural industries, as well
as in domestic work, janitorial service, and other hospitality-related jobs, particularly across the
Middle East, Asia, and North America. Traffickers, typically in partnership with small local
networks, engage in unscrupulous recruitment practices that leave migrant workers vulnerable to
trafficking, such as charging excessive fees and confiscating identity documents. Illicit recruiters
use student, intern, and exchange program visas to circumvent the Philippine government and
destination countries’ regulatory frameworks for foreign workers.
Forced labor and sex trafficking of men, women, and children within the country remains a
significant problem. Women and children from indigenous communities and remote areas of the
Philippines are the most vulnerable to sex trafficking, and some are vulnerable to domestic
servitude and other forms of forced labor. Men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in
the agricultural, fishing, and maritime industries. Many people from impoverished families and
conflict areas in Mindanao, Filipinos returning from abroad without documents, and internally
displaced persons in typhoon-affected communities are subjected to domestic servitude, forced
begging, forced labor in small factories, and sex trafficking in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, central and
northern Luzon, and urban areas in Mindanao. Trafficking also occurs in tourist destinations, such
as Boracay, Angeles City, Olongapo, Puerto Galera, and Surigao, where there is a high demand for
commercial sex acts. Child sex trafficking remains a pervasive problem, typically abetted by taxi
drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. Although the availability of child sex
trafficking victims in commercial establishments declined in some urban areas, young Filipino girls,
boys, and sibling groups are increasingly coerced to perform sex acts for live internet broadcast to
paying foreigners; this typically occurs in private residences or small internet cafes, and may be
facilitated by victims’ family members and neighbors. NGOs report high numbers of child sex
tourists in the Philippines, many of whom are citizens of Australia, Japan, the United States, Canada,
and countries in Europe; Filipino men also purchase commercial sex acts from child trafficking
victims. Organized crime syndicates allegedly transport sex trafficking victims from China through
the Philippines en route to other countries. The UN reports armed groups operating in the
Philippines, including the MILF, New People’s Army, Moro National Liberation Front, the Abu
Sayyaf Group, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit and use children,
at times through force, for combat and noncombat roles.
Officials, including those in diplomatic missions, law enforcement agencies, and other government
entities, allegedly have been complicit in trafficking or allowed traffickers to operate with impunity.
Some corrupt officials, particularly those working in immigration, allegedly accept bribes to
facilitate illegal departures for overseas workers, reduce trafficking charges, or overlook
unscrupulous labor recruiters. Reports in previous years asserted police conduct indiscriminate or
fake raids on commercial sex establishments to extort money from managers, clients, and victims.
Some personnel working at Philippine embassies reportedly withhold back wages procured for
their domestic workers, subject them to domestic servitude, or coerce sexual acts in exchange for
government protection services.

Education in the Philippines

Alternative Learning Systems

The alternative learning systems in the Philippines caters to the needs of the following: elementary
and secondary school dropouts, kids that are older than the normal age for a specific grade level
(this may be a 12 year old in grade 4), unemployed adults that haven’t finished their education
degree, indigenous people, people with disabilities or are mentally challenged, and inmates. It is
possible to have both informal and formal references for these alternative learning systems because
these are apart from the formal teaching institutions. Although similarly to the formal teaching
institutions, there will be a diagnostic test for everyone that will participate in order to gauge the
level they are at in terms of the skills needed per grade level. If there are people that do not have
the basic skills such as reading and writing there will be an additional program that will help them
first learn the basics before taking the diagnostic test. There will be a specific number of hours that
is required of the student in order for him/her to be able to finish the program. There will be a final
assessment to test the comprehensive knowledge of the student. If the students passes he/she will
be given a certificate that is signed by the secretary of the department of education allowing the
student to apply for college degrees, work, formal training programs, and can re-enroll in
elementary/secondary education in formal teaching institutions.
There are other avenues of alternative learning in the Philippines such as the Radio-Based
Instruction (RBI) Program. This is designed to give the lectures through a radio transmission
making it easier for people to access wherever they are. The goal is for the listeners to receive the
same amount of education that people that sit in classroom lectures.
Non-formal technical and vocational education is assumed by institutions usually accredited and
approved by TESDA: center-based programs, community-based programs and enterprise-based
training, or the Alternative Learning System (ALS).[58] The Institutions may be government
operated, often by provincial government, or private. They may offer programs ranging in duration
from a couple of weeks to two-year diploma courses. Programs can be technology courses like
automotive technology, computer technology, and electronic technology; service courses such as
caregiver, nursing aide, hotel and restaurant management; and trades courses such as electrician,
plumber, welder, automotive mechanic, diesel mechanic, heavy vehicle operator & practical
nursing. Upon graduating from most of these courses, students may take an examination
from TESDA to obtain the relevant certificate or diploma.
In the country, there are a number of people particularly kids that do not receive proper education
from formal education institutions because of various reasons. These reasons usually pertain to
financial problems.
Issues
When it comes to influence, the educational system of the Philippines has been affected immensely
by the country's colonial history including the Spanish period, American period, and Japanese rule
and occupation. Although having been significantly influenced by all its colonizers with regard to
the educational system, the most influential and deep-rooted contributions arose during the
American occupation (1898); it was during this aforementioned period that:
1. English was introduced as the primary language of instruction and
2. A public education system was first established - a system specifically patterned after the
United States school system and further administered by the newly established Department
of Instruction.
Similar to the United States, the Philippines has had an extensive and extremely inclusive system of
education including features such as higher education.
The present Philippine educational system firstly covers six years of compulsory education (from
grades 1 to 6), divided informally into two levels - both composed of three years. The first level is
known as the Primary level and the second level is known as the Intermediate level.
However, although the Philippine educational system has extensively been a model for other
Southeast Asian countries, in recent years such a matter has no longer stood true, and such a
system has been deteriorated - such a fact is especially evident and true in the country's more
secluded poverty-stricken regions.
Most the Philippines faces several issues when it comes to the educational system.
Quality
First of which, is the quality of education. In the year 2014, the National Achievement Test (NAT)
and the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) results show that there had been a
decline in the quality of Philippine education at the elementary and secondary levels. The students’
performance in both the 2014 NAT and NCAE were excessively below the target mean score.
Having said this, the poor quality of the Philippine educational system is manifested in the
comparison of completion rates between highly urbanized cities of Metro Manila, which is also
happens to be not only the country's capital region but the largest metropolitan area in the
Philippines and other places in the country such as Mindanao and Eastern Visayas. Although Manila
is able to boast a primary school completion rate of approximately 100 percent, other areas of the
nation, such as Eastern Visayas and Mindanao, hold primary school completion rate of only 30
percent or even less. This kind of statistic is no surprise to the education system in the Philippine
context, students who hail from Philippine urban areas have the financial capacity to complete at
the very least their primary school education.
Budget
The second issue that the Philippine educational system faces is the budget for education. Although
it has been mandated by the Philippine Constitution for the government to allocate the highest
proportion of its government to education, the Philippines remains to have one of the lowest
budget allocations to education among ASEAN countries.
Affordability
The third prevalent issue the Philippine educational system continuously encounters is the
affordability of education (or lack thereof). A big disparity in educational achievements is evident
across various social groups. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students otherwise known as
students who are members of high and low-income poverty-stricken families, have immensely
higher drop-out rates in the elementary level. Additionally, most freshmen students at the tertiary
level come from relatively well-off families.
Drop-out rate (Out-of-school youth)
France Castro, the secretary of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), stated that there is a graved
need to address the alarming number of out-of-school youth in the country. The Philippines overall
has 1.4 million children who are out-of-school, according to UNESCO's data, and is additionally the
only ASEAN country that is included in the top 5 countries with the highest number of out-of-school
youth. In 2012, the Department of Education showed data of a 6.38% drop-out rate in primary
school and a 7.82% drop-out rate in secondary school. Castro further stated that "the increasing
number of out-of-school children is being caused by poverty. The price increases in prices of oil,
electricity, rice, water, and other basic commodities are further pushing the poor into dire poverty."
Subsequently, as more families become poorer, the number of students enrolled in public schools
increases, especially in the high school level. In 2013, the Department of Education estimated that
there are 38, 503 elementary schools alongside 7,470 high schools.[59]
Mismatch
There is a large mismatch between educational training and actual jobs. This stands to be a major
issue at the tertiary level and it is furthermore the cause of the continuation of a substantial amount
of educated yet unemployed or underemployed people. According to Dean Salvador Belaro Jr., the
Cornell-educated Congressman representing 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list in the House of
Representatives, the number of educated unemployed reaches around 600,000 per year. He refers
to said condition as the "education gap".
Brain drain
Brain drain is a persistent problem evident in the educational system of the Philippines due to the
modern phenomenon of globalization,[60] with the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
who worked abroad at any time during the period April to September 2014 was estimated at 2.3
million.[61] This ongoing mass immigration subsequently induces an unparalleled brain drain
alongside grave economic implications. Additionally, Philippine society hitherto is footing the bill
for the education of millions who successively spend their more productive years abroad. Thus, the
already poor educational system of the Philippines indirectly subsidizes the opulent economies
who host the OFWs.
Social divide
There exists a problematic and distinct social cleavage with regard to educational opportunities in
the country. Most modern societies have encountered an equalizing effect on the subject of
education. This aforementioned divide in the social system has made education become part of the
institutional mechanism that creates a division between the poor and the rich.[55]
Lack of facilities and teacher shortage in public schools
There are large-scale shortages of facilities across Philippine public schools - these include
classrooms, teachers, desks and chairs, textbooks, and audio-video materials. According to 2003
Department of Education Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz, reportedly over 17 million students are
enrolled in Philippine public schools, and at an annual population growth rate of 2.3 per cent, about
1.7 million babies are born every year which means that in a few years time, more individuals will
assert ownership over their share of the (limited) educational provisions.[55] To sum it up, there are
too many students and too little resources. Albeit the claims the government makes on increasing
the allocated budget for education, there is a prevalent difficulty the public school system faces with
regard to shortages. Furthermore, state universities and colleges gradually raise tuition so as to
have a means of purchasing facilities, thus making tertiary education difficult to access or more
often than not, inaccessible to the poor. However, it is worth taking note of what the Aquino
administration has done in its five years of governance with regard to classroom-building - the
number of classrooms built from 2005 to the first half of the year 2010 has tripled. Additionally, the
number of classrooms that were put up from the year 2010 to February 2015 was recorded to be at
86,478, significantly exceeding the 17,305 classrooms that were built from 2005 to 2010 and
adequate enough to counterbalance the 66,800 classroom deficit in the year 2010.
In President Aquino's fourth state of the nation address (SONA), he spoke of the government's
achievement of zero backlog in facilities such as classrooms, desks and chairs, and textbooks which
has addressed the gap in the shortages of teachers, what with 56,085 new teachers for the 61, 510
teaching items in the year 2013. However, the data gathered by the Department of Education shows
that during the opening of classes (June 2013), the shortages in classrooms was pegged at 19, 579,
60 million shortages when it came to textbooks, 2.5 million shortages with regard to chairs, and 80,
937 shortages of water and sanitation facilities. Furthermore, 770 schools in Metro Manila, Cebu,
and Davao were considered overcrowded. The Department of Education also released data stating
that 91% of the 61, 510 shortages in teachers was filled up alongside appointments (5, 425 to be
specific) are being processed.[59]
Issues regarding the K-12
There is a dispute with regard to the quality of education provided by the system. In the year 2014,
the National Achievement Test (NAT) and the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE)
results show that there had been a decline in the quality of Philippine education at the elementary
and secondary levels. The students’ performance in both the 2014 NAT and NCAE were excessively
below the target mean score. Having said this, the poor quality of the Philippine educational system
is manifested in the comparison of completion rates between highly urbanized city of Metro Manila,
which is also happens to be not only the country's capital but the largest metropolitan area in the
Philippines and other places in the country such as Mindanao and Eastern Visayas. Although Manila
is able to boast a primary school completion rate of approximately 100 percent, other areas of the
nation, such as Eastern Visayas and Mindanao, hold primary school completion rate of only 30
percent or even less. This kind of statistic is no surprise to the education system in the Philippine
context, students who hail from Philippine urban areas have the financial capacity to complete at
the very least their primary school education.
The second issue that the Philippine educational system faces is the budget for education. Although
it has been mandated by the Philippine Constitution for the government to allocate the highest
proportion of its government to education, the Philippines remains to have one of the lowest
budget allocations to education among ASEAN countries. The third prevalent issue the Philippine
educational system continuously encounters is the affordability of education (or lack thereof). A big
disparity in educational achievements is evident across various social groups. Socioeconomically
disadvantaged students otherwise known as students who are members of high and low-income
poverty-stricken families have immensely higher drop-out rates in the elementary level.
Additionally, most freshmen students at the tertiary level come from relatively well-off families.
Lastly, there is a large proportion of mismatch, wherein there exists a massive proportion of
mismatch between training and actual jobs. This stands to be a major issue at the tertiary level and
it is furthermore the cause of the continuation of a substantial amount of educated yet unemployed
or underemployed people.
The third issue involves the timing for requiring Grades 11 and 12. According to Sec. 4 of Republic
Act No. 10533, "The enhanced basic education program encompasses at least one (1) year of
kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of secondary
education, in that sequence. Secondary education includes four (4) years of junior high school and
two (2) years of senior high school education."[62] However, according to Sec. 4 of Republic Act No.
10157, "Kindergarten education is hereby institutionalized as part of basic education and for school
year 2011-2012 shall be implemented partially, and thereafter, it shall be made mandatory and
compulsory for entrance to Grade 1."[63] That means in order to follow the enhanced basic
education program, students must take kindergarten before taking six years of elementary
education, followed by six years of secondary education, which includes Grades 11 and 12. But
since kindergarten became mandatory and implemented fully only in SY 2012-2013, then Grade 11
can only be required in SY 2023-2024.