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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____ 
Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representative 
HON. EDUARDO ‘BRO. EDDIE’ C. VILLANUEVA 
AN ACT AMENDING SECTION 16 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7610, AS 
AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9231, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 
THE SPECIAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST CHILD 
ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND DISCRIMINATION ACT 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Every Filipino child has the right to be protected from economic 
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous 
or to interfere with his or her education, or to be harmful to his or her health 
or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development (Article 32 of 
Convention on the Rights of the Child). 
Regrettably, the results of the 2011 Survey on Children conducted 
by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that an estimated 2.1 
million Filipino children 5 to 17 years of age are engaged in child labor. 
Worse, those in hazardous child labor was estimated at 2.0 million or 97.7 
percent.1  
The aforesaid study also revealed that across regions, Central 
Luzon (10.5%) and Bicol Region (10.4%) had the largest share of the 
country’s child labor population. Large shares were also observed in 
1 Estimated Number of Working Children 5 to 17 Years Old who Worked During the Past Week was 3.3 Million (Final Results of 
the 2011 Survey on Children). Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved from: https://psa.gov.ph/content/estimated-number-
working-children-5-17-years-old-who-worked-during-past-week-was-33-million (date last accessed: July 15, 2019). 
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Northern Mindanao (8.5%), CALABARZON (8.3%) and Western Visayas 
(8.2%).2 
Republic Act No. 7610 as amended by Republic Act No. 9231 
provides for the prohibition against worst forms of child labor and punishes 
employers for such practices, namely: (a) all forms of slavery, as defined 
under the "Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003”; (b) the use, procuring, 
offering or exposing of a child for prostitution, for the production of 
pornography or for pornographic performances; (c) the use, procuring or 
offering of a child for illegal or illicit activities; and (d) work which, by its 
nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is hazardous or is 
likely to be harmful to the health, safety or morals of children.  
Unfortunately, since the enactment of Republic Act No. 9231 in 
2003, prohibiting worst forms of child labor, child labor remains prevalent 
in the country. Clearly, this situation shows that the penalties presently 
imposed are not sufficient to deter the continued illegal employment of 
children.  
Thus, this bill seeks to provide greater penalties for violations of 
Republic Act No. 7610 as amended by Republic Act No. 9231 by imposing 
both imprisonment and fine for every instance that a child is engaged in 
employment other than in the instances permitted by law. This bill also 
proposes to raise the fines imposed on employers who continue to engage 
in illegal child labor practices. 
The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 aims to reduce 
cases of child labor by 30 percent by the end of 2022.3  For this reason, 
for the period 2017-2022, the goal is to withdraw at least 630,000 children 
from child labor (DOLE Administrative Order No. 142 series of 2018).  
This measure seeks to make this goal a reality, and thus, the 
immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
 HON. EDUARDO “BRO. EDDIE” C. VILLANUEVA 
2 Id. 
3 Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 (Abridged Version). National Economic Development Authority. Retrieved from: 
http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Abridged-PDP-2017-2022_Final.pdf (date last accessed on April 13, 2018). 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____ 
Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representative 
HON. EDUARDO ‘BRO. EDDIE’ C. VILLANUEVA 
AN ACT AMENDING SECTION 16 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7610, AS 
AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9231, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 
THE SPECIAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST CHILD 
ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND DISCRIMINATION ACT 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
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Philippines in Congress assembled:
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SECTION 1. Section 16 of Republic Act No. 7610, as amended by 
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Republic Act No. 9231, otherwise known as Special Protection of Children 
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Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, is hereby 
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amended to read as follows:  
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Sec. 16. Penal Provisions - 
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a) Any employer who violates Sections 12, 12-A, and Section 14 of this
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act, as amended, shall be penalized by imprisonment of six (6)
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months and one (1) day to six (6) years [or] AND a fine of [Fifty
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thousand (Php50,000.00) but not more than Three hundred
14 
thousand pesos (Php300,000.00)] NOT LESS THAN ONE
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HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS (Php150,000.00) [or
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both at the discretion of the court].
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b) Any person who violates the provision of Section 12-D of this act or 
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the employer of the subcontractor who employs, or the one who 
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facilitates the employment of a child in hazardous work, shall suffer 
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the penalty of a fine of not less than [One hundred thousand pesos 
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(Php100,000.00) 
but 
not 
more 
than 
One 
million 
pesos 
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(Php1,000,000.00)] THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS 
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(Php300,000.000) [or] AND imprisonment of not less than twelve 
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(12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years [or both such fine 
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and imprisonment at the discretion of the court].  
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x x x 
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SEC. 2. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within sixty (60) 
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days from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Labor and 
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Employment, in coordination with other agencies and relevant 
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stakeholders, shall promulgate the rules and regulations to implement the 
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provisions of this Act. 
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SEC. 3. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
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rules, regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this 
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Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
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SEC. 4. Separability Clause. – If, for any reason, any section or 
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provision of this bill is declared unconstitutional or invalid, other sections 
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or provisions hereof shall remain in force. 
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SEC. 5. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen days after its 
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publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.  
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Approved, 
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