This document discusses issues related to children, youth, women, and tribal Filipinos in the Philippines. It notes that children face many risks such as death from preventable diseases, abuse, and exploitation. Women contend with inequality, poverty, and lack of access to healthcare and education. Tribal groups face loss of culture and identity. The plight of youth includes lack of purpose, motivation, and proper education. Overall the document outlines human rights concerns and challenges faced by these vulnerable populations in the Philippines.

1. THE SITUATION OF FILIPINO CHILDREN,
YOUTH,WOMEN AND TRIBAL FILIPINOS

2. (Video1)CHILDREN
• CHILDREN’S RIGHT
– are the human rights of children with particular attention
to the rights of special protection and care afforded to
minors, including their right to association with
both parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for
food, universal state-paid education, health care and
criminal laws appropriate for the age and development of
the child, equal protection of the child's civil rights, and
freedom from discrimination on the basis of the
child's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity, national origin, religion, disability, color, ethnicity,
or other characteristics.

3. "A child is any human being below the age
of eighteen years, unless under the law
applicable to the child, majority is attained
earlier.”
The field of children's rights spans the
fields of law, politics, religion, and morality.

4. The Plight of Children
-A dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation
AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each
year 10.6 million children die before reaching their fifth
birthday. Each day 29,000 children die (1 per 30
seconds). More than 3 million stillbirths occur annually. Four
million die in the first month of life, 20% on day 1. Early causes
of death include pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, malaria,
malnutrition, neonatal conditions, and HIV/AIDS

5. CHILD ABUSE
-is a major international problem with nearly 53,000
children murdered annually.
Abuse is rooted in social, economic, and cultural
factors. Violence occurs within families, in schools,
communities, and extends to child care and justice
institutions. The types of abuse include physical,
emotional, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment (including nutritional neglect, educational
neglect, physical harm due to lack of supervision and
abandonment), trafficking for commercial use or child
sexual exploitation (prostitution, pornography), and in
some parts of the world, recruitment as suicide
bombers and childhood soldiers.

6. In some impoverished areas,
selling one’s child into slavery or prostitution for
profit is also included. Infants and young
children are at the greatest risk with abuse rates
in the 0 to 5 year age group 4 times greater than
for children 5 to 14 years. The extent of abuse is
often obtained from death registries and varies
according to income levels of countries and the
region of the world. The highest rate of child
abuse is noted in low income countries,
particularly Africa.

7. Mistreatment of the parent as a child and domestic
violence, drugs or alcohol dependency in the home
doubles the risk of abuse to the children as does
residing in a single parent or broken home
environment.
(video2)
The homeless child is also a problem in developed
countries, violence against children in schools and
other educational and child care institutions is an
ongoing problem.

8. CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
Child sexual abuse, assault, and exploitation are topics relatively
hidden from the view of most of the population.
Increased vulnerability to childhood sexual abuse is observed in
single parent and broken homes, children in foster care, adopted
children, stepchildren, children that are physically and mentally
disabled, those confined in detention centers, and victims of war
and conflict. The risk of sexual abuse in children is 4 times
greater for those residing in low income, poverty stricken areas
with public housing. Rape, molestation, exposure to
pornography, and exposure to sexual acts of others are the most
common forms of abuse. Instances of sexual assault include
forced rape, sodomy, genital insertion of objects or instruments,
and fondling. Drugs facilitate sexual violence and an increased
use of promised drug availability and date rape drugs has been
reported .

9. STATUS OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH
INSURANCE COVERAGE(govt.)
SOCIETY’S ROLE
While many are apt to place blame on the government
for not providing more care, jobs, safety, better
education, and the like, the society also plays a major
role in the situation we find ourselves in today,
particularly when it comes to the welfare of our
children. In attempting to resolve some of the
problems, the public has to step-up and take some
responsibility.

10. The information presented above
documents that single women and their
children have an increased risk of lower
levels of education, a life of poverty, a poor
health environment, and exposure to
violence. There is an established link
between poverty, health insurance access,
and child health care outcomes.(video3)

11. WOMEN’s
Rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women
and girls of many societies worldwide. In some
places, these rights are institutionalized or supported
by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others
they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from
broader notions of human rights through claims of an
inherent historical and traditional bias against the
exercise of rights by women and girls in favor of men
and boys.

12. Equal employment rights for women
and men
The rights of women and men to have equal
pay and equal benefits for equal work.
Governments Must Step Up So Women
Don't Have to Step In

13. To feed their families when times are tough,
women substitute more expensive foods with
cheaper, less nutritious ones; spend more time
in line waiting for rations; prepare things from
scratch when pre-made options are too
expensive; take small jobs for extra income and
make do with less food, less sleep and little, if
any, leisure time. It is usually women who go
hungry when there is not enough food for
everyone. In fact, even before the recent global
food crisis hit, an estimated 7 out of 10 of the
world's hungry were women and girls (2).

14. Areas of rights that were addressed in the "Declaration of
Sentiments" were:
-whether women had a voice in making laws that they were
subject to, including whether women could vote
-whether married women had any legal existence
-whether women had property rights, including the right to
income she herself earned
-whether women could freely choose to end a marriage
-whether women had custody rights over children after a divorce
or separation
-whether women had access to many professions, including
theology, medicine and law
-whether women had access to higher education
-whether women had a voice in the Church, including whether -
women could be ministers or in other ways publicly participate
-whether moral codes (about sexual choices) were the same for
women as for men

15. -the right to be educated (and a duty to
educate her own children)
-equal partnership between man and woman
in marriage
-control over family size
-free speech, including to reveal the father of
her children equality of children born out of
marriage to those who were born within
marriage, which implied an equal right of
women to sexual relationships outside of
marriage
-whether women were considered full citizens,
or were considered the equivalent of slaves or
minors under the authority of
husbands or fathers
(video4)
(video5)

16. The Plight of Youth Today
We are living in the era of information and
technology and the youth are exposed to
the wrong kind of information because of
sites like mix it and other obscene sites
which are only known to most of the
youth.
This type of information and exposure is
crippling and debilitating and adds no
value or development to our youth in
terms of literacy and numerically.

17. What does the youth need?
Self worth and purpose – If these two aspects are not in place all the other
resources will mean nothing to the youth. Many young people see themselves
as unworthy and purposeless because of their socio–economic circumstances.
Healthy domestic structure– A young person will find self worth in a healthy
family environment and because of that they will know what their purpose in
society and the country is and that is to build a healthy, loving and productive
country.
Motivation – Unlike the youth of the past (generation x) who had one goal in
mind and that is, liberation, the youth of today (generation y) are not really
motivated to mount to anything much because the challenges are not so
intense. Generation Y expects Generation X to provide for them and to keep
them even when they are grown up. That is why so many young people
choose to stay at home and live on granny’s pension instead of getting
educated/skilled and doing an honest job. Please note, this is not always the
case.

18. Socio-economic upliftment and development – This is really the
responsibility of Generation X seeing that we are in power and we are
managing this country. Giving a minimal grant to a family means nothing if
people are not educated how to budget, how to create more money and how
to sustain themselves. We will continue to maintain a poverty stricken society
if we continue to do this. Our youth should be taught to take ownership of
‘themselves’ by giving them tools to sustain themselves even while they are
still at school. The reason why young girls have sex with adult (sometimes
married men) is because of money, this should be prevented by all means.
Our young men become drug dealers because they need money, nobody ever
decides to become a drug dealer one day, it is because of their socio-economic
situation that they end up doing that.
Education – The ideal would be that education should be free of charge one
day, than all children will be on the same level where education is concerned.
It is sad to know that so many youths don’t attend good schools due to a lack
of resources like, school uniform, school bags, writing material. Every child
has the right to good education and not what most of our children are
exposed to at the moment.

19. Information – Not all youth are informed of issues that are happening around
them, and those who do are apathetic. The reason is, the information is not
relevant to them. Information centers in communities informing youth about
events, work, training, leadership programs, and political issues
regarding personally will be beneficial especially if it is managed by the youth
member themselves. Knowledge is power and that is what we should strive to
do – Give the youth power to assist in building a stronger and informed
nation.
Family support – The world is big and cold, but if a young person gets the
support of their family than they can face any storm and fight of any
adversary. Most of the families consists of a single parent and children, other
families consists of children only and than there’s the “normal” family with
both parents, but it does not mean the latter is better of because we
sometimes find emotionally absent parents and that can be equally
damaging. In the case of family support it is also important that the church
and other community groups take initiative to support these families
emotionally and spiritually.

20. Spiritual Input – A family that stays together, have to pray together. This
might sound irrelevant but it is as important as all the above, if a young
person does not know that there is a God who cares about them, they will
perceive all their disappointments as the end of the world and they will live
without Hope. We are threading on dangerous ground because church has
taken a back seat in so many instances that the possibility is there that it
would be seen as taboo in the near future (the European churches has turned
into museums). The only way to prevent this from happening is to bring
church into the homes so that the family can attend church as a unit.
Love – This cannot be reiterated more. We grew up in a society where the
word love is only used in movies, in books and other media sources and this is
misconstrued and misleading. If a young girl does not receive love from her
Dad especially she will fall for the 1st guy who will end up abusing because he
sees her neediness. Likewise, a young man who grows up without the love
and support of a Father becomes a misfit and a manic to society.

21. Youth rights are rights that young people have due to having reached a specific age or sufficient
maturity.
Evolving capacities is the concept in which education, child development and youth
development programs led by adults takes into account the capacities of the child or youth to
exercise rights on his or her own behalf. The concept of evolving capacities is employed
internationally as a direct alternative to popular concepts of child and youth development
Youth rights have increased over the last century in many countries. The youth rights movement
seeks to further increase youth rights, with some advocating intergenerational equity.
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or
idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors,
particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and
sociological settings
Youth rights are one aspect of how youth are treated in society. Other aspects include how
adults see and treat youth, and how open society is to youth participation.
Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their own
communities. It is often used as a shorthand for youth participation in any many forms,
including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not
historically engage.

22. Church and Government Response
There is an expression that the church is always one generation away from
extinction. It’s simply because the youth of today are the leaders of
tomorrow.
Engage them in the service projects of the church. Teens love to feel as
though they are making a difference in someone’s life.
Take them on mission trips, they will be exposed to new cultures and won’t
forget the adventure. Their enthusiasm and excitement as they are involved
in the life and work of the church will have a positive aspect on other
members, making church an even more joyful place to be. They will
remember that in the future, and share those kinds of experiences with
Youth are important, and are the leaders of tomorrow. So make sure you
create an environment which welcomes youth, and encourage them to live a
good life.(video6)(inspirational video/evangelization)

23. Ethnic groups in the Philippines
The islands of the Philippines are inhabited by a
number of different ethnic groups. The majority
of the population is composed of ethno
linguistic groups whose languages are
Austronesia also known as Malayo-Polynesian in
origin. Many of these groups converted to
Christianity, particularly the lowland-coastal
groups, and adopted many foreign elements of
culture. These ethnic groups include the
Cebuano, Ilocano, Pangasinense, Kapampangan,
Tagalog, Bicolano, Waray, Surigaonon and
Hiligaynon also called Ilonggo.

24. In Mindanao, there are indigenous groups who practice Islam. The Spanish
called them Moros after the Moors (despite no resemblance or cultural ties
to them apart from their religion). In some highland areas of Mindanao, there
are mountain-dwelling ethnic groups collectively known as lumad. These
people do not practice Islam, and maintain their animistic beliefs and
traditions.
The Negrito are a pre-Mongoloid people who migrated from mainland Asia
and were one of the earliest human beings to settle the Philippines, around
90,000 years ago.The first known were the people of the Callao Man remains.
The Negrito population are estimated to number around 46,500.Their tribal
groups include the Ati, and the Aeta. Their ways of life remain mostly free
from Western and Islamic influences. Scholars study them to try to
understand pre-Hispanic culture.
Most Filipinos are Malayo-Polynesian, another term for Austronesian. Other
ethnic groups form a minority in the Philippine population. These include
those of Japanese, Han Chinese, Indians, Americans, Spanish, Europeans, and
other ethnic groups from other countries. Mixed-race individuals are known
as Filipino mestizo.

26. The Philippine government succeeded in establishing a number of protected
reservations for tribal groups. Indigenous people were expected to speak
their native language, dress in their traditional tribal clothing, live in houses
constructed of natural materials using traditional architectural designs and
celebrate their traditional ceremonies of propitiation of spirits believed to be
inhabiting their environment. They are also encouraged to re-establish their
traditional authority structure in which, as in indigenous society were
governed by chieftains known as Rajah and Datu.
Contact between primitive and modern ethnic groups usually resulted in
weakening or destroying tribal culture without assimilating the indigenous
groups into modern society. It seemed doubtful that the shift of the
Philippine government policy from assimilation to cultural pluralism could
reverse the process. Several Filipino tribes tends to lead to the abandonment
of traditional culture because land security makes it easier for tribal members
to adopt the economic process of the larger society and facilitates marriage
with outsiders.
In the past, the Philippine government bureaus could not preserve tribes as
social museum exhibits, but with the aid of various nationwide organizations,
they hoped to help the people adapt to modern society without completely
losing their ethnic identity.(video)