Children and Youth

• The Senate passed on third reading the Inclusive Education Bill (Senate Bill No. 1907) on March 31. This bill aims to institutionalize a range of services for learners with disabilities, mostly children with disabilities, in order to ensure their equal access to education. A counterpart bill was already passed on third reading at the House of Representatives in December 2020. Child rights advocates lauded this move, especially for children with disabilities, who already experienced double vulnerability due to poverty and disability even before the pandemic. This bill aims to ensure that no learner with disability will be excluded or denied admission to any public or private basic education school in the country.

• With the closure of schools and shift to remote learning, online learning has taken a toll on the mental health of learners, most of whom are children. A survey to assess the conduct of distance learning in basic education from November to December 2020 showed that 53% of the 620 respondents were unsure if they could learn the competencies set by DepEd for their grade level under the current setup of distance learning. More than half (54.7%) said that distance learning had adversely affected their physical and mental health and a third (33.4%) claimed that their relationship with their families had come under strain due to distance learning. These experiences might be true for most students, up to 80% of whom are enrolled in module-based distance learning, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. Despite the efforts of DepEd to respond to challenges posed by the pandemic on the learners’ and teachers’ mental health through mental health and psychosocial support announced in the fourth quarter of 2020, learners’ mental health and relationship with their family remain negatively affected.

• Apart from mental health concerns, there were also concerns about student enrollment. An SWS survey released in February claimed that 4.4 million school-aged Filipinos (13%) were not enrolled in school. However, DepEd’s records showed that there were only 1.1 million learners who were unable to enroll in basic education in the school year 2019-2020. This meant that the enrollment rate was 96%. However, the dropout rate, which is usually calculated at the end of the school year, has yet to be determined. This could deviate from the dropout rate in previous years given the challenges faced by students during the pandemic.

• Remote and online learning also posed challenges to families, with 6 out of 10 families allocating more time to teach their children, according to an SWS survey released in March 2021. With blended learning (modular and/or online), 43% of families with enrolled members said that they were allotting “much more time now” to teaching and guiding children compared to before, when face-to-face learning was being implemented. Another 17% said that “somewhat more time now” was being spent on the same duties. In September 2020, DepEd released guidelines on screen time for the children using devices. This, however, did not seem to have lessened the time parents and children spent on their school lessons.

• The DepEd has repeatedly proposed reopening physical schools after their closure in March 2020, but this has not happened yet. A pilot of limited face-to-face classes in January 2021 was proposed by DepEd and initially approved by President Duterte in December 2020; however, it was aborted after a new variant of COVID-19 was discovered. In February 2021, DepEd called again for school opening, citing that 50% of students, parents, and teachers in their study preferred face-to-face classes. However, during that time, schools were also closed in other Southeast Asian countries due to COVID-19. Indonesia, with COVID-19 cases higher than the Philippines, started gradual reopening of schools in January 2021. International organizations, specifically the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, have recommended the reopening of schools, underscoring that school attendance is critical for children’s education and lifetime prospects.

In June 2021, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution No. 739, urging the Senate to look into the preparedness of the basic education sector for the school year 2021-2022. He noted that the long school closure has had a devastating impact on learners, and implored legislators to assess the challenges being faced by the education sector, such as lack of gadgets, electricity and intermittent internet connection, appropriate learning space, and issues on the quality of modules. Around the world, countries are struggling with the same dilemma on how to deliver effective education to learners while protecting them from COVID-19, and this question is not likely to be resolved as long as the pandemic continues to persist.

• The Malacañang has announced that the Philippine government will not cooperate in an ICC investigation, citing the Philippines’ withdrawal as a State Party to the ICC Treaty, and the effectiveness of national judicial mechanisms. Against a backdrop of continued violence against children allegedly perpetrated by state forces, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally requested for an investigation to be launched into crimes against humanity perpetrated as part of the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration. This is a step towards delivering justice to thousands who have been killed in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, including children. The case of 17-year old Kian delos Santos is the only death that has been resolved by a Philippine court, which handed out a guilty verdict against the policemen involved in the 2018 killings. Even during the pandemic, killings perpetrated by state forces did not cease—including the killing of 18-year old Edwin Arnigo, a person with disability, in Valenzuela City by policeman, 12-year old Angel Rivas in Lianga by the military, and 16-year old Johndy Maglinte in an anti-illegal drugs operation. The investigation to be launched will uphold the dignity of children killed by state forces.

• Proposed legislation that might endanger youth and children was also approved on its third reading—the Non-Combustible Nicotine Delivery Systems Regulation Act or House Bill No. 9007. This bill aims to regulate the use of e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and heated tobacco products (HTPs). However, instead of increasing the level of protection it affords to children, this bill would lower the minimum age of access to e-cigarettes and vape from 21 to 18 years old. Advocates criticised the move as disgraceful and incomprehensible and a retrogression of the strict policies on tobacco and tobacco-related control in the country. Previously, the sale to and use of e-cigarettes by those below 21 years old was prohibited.

• The number of cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) has increased during the pandemic, necessitating policies that would provide stronger protection for children. While the Senate passed on its third reading Senate Bill No. 2209, a bill which sets out tougher measures against OSAEC, the House of Representatives has removed the term “online” in the title and body of the bill. Child Rights Network (CRN), a network of child-focus organizations, underscored that this would take the focus away from the very purpose of the bill, which is to end and penalize crimes committed against children using information and communications technology.

• The number of children engaging in labor in the Philippines has risen. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reported that the economic crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to children becoming “collateral damage from pandemic,” as families are being forced to work under tedious and dangerous conditions. Globally, the number of child laborers has increased from 150 million in 2016 to 160 million in 2020, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). DOLE expressed its commitment in February 2021 to end child labor by next year. Efforts of the DOLE include profiling children engaged in child labor, an interagency quick action response mechanism, and provision of food, school supplies, and hygiene kits to child laborers and their family. While these programmatic strategies are good, the root causes of child labor in the context of the present economic crisis should also be addressed at the same time.

• Initially, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in May 2021 that the Philippines would not yet include teens and children in the COVID-19 vaccination program of the country. According to him, children and teens were not a high-risk group, and given the limited availability of vaccines in the country, he underscored the need to follow the prioritization formula (i.e., A1 for frontliners, A2 for senior citizens, A3 for citizens with co-morbidities, and A4 for essential workers). But in June 2021, the department started studying proposals to include children 16 to 17 years with co-morbidities as long as they had clearance from the doctor. Children make up a huge part of the population, and vaccinating children could also save other people’s lives as it could potentially contribute to herd immunity.

Countries such as the United Kingdom have approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine among children aged 12-15 years after a rigorous review of the vaccine’s effects on adolescents. In Asia, Singapore will be using the same vaccine for children aged 12-15 years. China, Hong Kong, and Japan have also taken the same step. While children below 16 are yet to be included in the vaccination program of the country, including teens 16 and 17 years old with comorbidities is a welcome development. This may be another step to not only ensure that children will be given the utmost protection should classes shift back to face-to-face mode, but it might also allow them to go outside of their houses for essential needs and to play.

• Access to reproductive health and health services has also been difficult for youth and children. Despite the guidelines released by DOH to ensure uninterrupted provision of services, pediatric cases of hospital admissions and consultations among children under five years of age declined compared to the same period in 2019. While there may be other factors contributing to this decline, the strict policy of the government for children (along with senior citizens) to stay at home may have largely influenced this decline.

COVID-19 has also made Filipino youth more vulnerable to abuse and sexual and reproductive health risks due to interruptions in access to reproductive health services, including counseling. A study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2020 showed that there was a 42 percent increase in unplanned pregnancies during the lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission on Population (POPCOM) has also underscored that teens and mothers were facing greater risks of repeat pregnancies and vulnerable to gender-based violence. Early childbearing and lack of spacing in childbearing may result in intergenerational poverty and vulnerability to violence, a position that endangers the youth.