MALACAÑANG
Manila
INSTRUMENT OF RATIFICATION
TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:
KNOW YE, that whereas Convention No. 138 adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 23 June 1973, entitles "Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment", otherwise known as the Minimum Age Convention, 1973, obligates States Parties to abolish child labour and to progressively raise the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons, which in any case shall not be less than 15 years and which shall apply to all economic sectors and all employment or work, even those performed by children without a contract of work;
WHEREAS, being a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Philippines has the undertaking, inter alia; to recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work likely to be hazardous, to interfere with his or her education or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development and to this end shall, among others, provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission for employment;
WHEREAS, the Republic of the Philippines, by Section 13, Article II of its 1987 constitution, recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being, and, by Section 3(2), Article XV of the same fundamental law, shall defend the right of children to assistance including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development;
WHEREAS, the laws of the Philippines penalize acts which directly or indirectly lead to the exploitation of children at work (Articles 272 and 273 of the Revised Penal Code) and prohibit the employment of children at an early age as well as ensure that those exempted from the minimum age law, like those engaged in family work and artistic performances, do only light work, are provided with an opportunity for education, and are not discriminated against;
WHEREAS, National Tripartite consultations among the government, business and labour sectors, joined by non-governmental as well as people's organizations, have strongly recommended, through a joint resolution, the immediate ratification by the Philippines of the ILO Minimum Age Convention of 1973;
WHEREAS, Article 12 of said Convention provides that it shall enter into force for any ILO member twelve (12) months after the date on which the member's ratification has been registered;
NOW THEREFORE, be it known that I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, after having seen and considered the aforementioned Minimum Age Convention, 1973, (ILO Convention 138) do hereby ratify and confirm the same and each and every Article and Clause thereof.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
DONE in the City of Manila, this 7th day of July in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven.
BY THE PRESIDENT:
DOMINGO L. SIAZON, JR.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
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