At the Margins – Street and Working Children in Cebu City
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AT THE MARGINS STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES Judith Pomm AT THE MARGINS STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM ACADEMIC YEAR 2004/2005 J U D I T H P O M M GILSINGSTR. 62 44789 BOCHUM GERMANY E-MAIL: [email protected] PHONE: 0049-160-7269847 i CONFIRMATION UNDER OATH Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) Ruhr-University Bochum NA 02/33 D-44780 Bochum Germany I confirm on my word of honour that the master paper: AT THE MARGINS STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES has been written by myself without any unauthorized assistance, that it has not been presented yet for another examination, and that it has not been published before, neither in full, nor in part. Every part that has been taken from other sources, literally or paraphrased, has been marked as borrowed. Bochum, November 2005 Judith Pomm ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This master paper is about street and working children in Cebu City in the Philippines. It is a situation of permanent crisis in which these children live for many years. The children lack food, shelter, education and medical care. Estimates on their life expectancy are low, as well as the chances for those who survive to make it out to a decent life. Cross-cultural research suggests that poverty alone does not give sufficient explanation for the phenomenon of large numbers of street children in Cebu City, since cities in many countries equally poor as the Philippines do not have this problem. In order to understand the forces that drive children onto the street and make them – despite numerous projects targeted at them – stay there, this paper scrutinises the interests and interactions of the different actors involved in the problem. Four perspectives are distinguished. The first chapter describes important terms and concepts related to street and working children, recent paradigm shifts in research on them, and international standard-setting agendas towards them. In the second chapter it is shown how institutions at the national and local level, in the Philippines and Cebu City, approach these children. The third chapter investigates the public discourse on street and working children that reveals the social and cultural forces behind the problem. The fourth chapter gives an insight into the street children’s own perception of their situation. Understanding the relationship between the different interest groups each with its potentials and constraints is crucial when thinking about effective alternative solutions. While providing relief through outreach work would help those children who are not able or not willing to undergo institutional care, comprehensive long-term development initiatives should be offered to the others who have the motivation and capacity to change their situation. The suggestions presented in the conclusion take into account the findings of this paper based on field research. iii CONTENTS TITLE AND PERSONAL DATA i CONFIRMATION UNDER OATH ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS vi LIST OF ACRONYMS vii GLOSSARY ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: TERMS AND CONCEPTS RELATED TO STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN 4 1.1 Commonly Shared Presumptions 4 1.1.1 Childhood and Children 4 1.1.2 Street and Working Children 6 1.2 New Approaches 11 1.2.1 Paradigm Shift 12 1.2.2 Research Ethics and Techniques 17 1.3 Summary 20 CHAPTER TWO: INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN IN THE PHILIPPINES 22 2.1 National Level: Context and Initiatives 22 2.1.1 Poverty in the Philippines 23 2.1.2 Urban Poverty and Children 27 2.1.3 The State’s Interest in Children 31 2.1.4 Policy and Legal Framework 33 2.2 Local Level: Organisations in Cebu City 37 2.2.1 The City’s Interest in Children 38 2.2.2 Project Focus: Broad-Based and Targeted 39 2.2.3 Project Strategy: Reactive, Protective and Rights-Based 43 2.3 Summary 55 iv CHAPTER THREE: PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON STREET AND WORKING CHILDREN IN CEBU 56 3.1 Commonly Shared Concepts in the Philippine Society 56 3.1.1 Family and Childhood Ideals 57 3.1.2 Notions of “Home” and “Street” 59 3.2 Public Perception of Street Children in Cebu 62 3.2.1 Evaluation of the Questionnaires 62 3.2.2 Impact of the Shared Ideals on Stigmatisation of Street Children 69 3.2.3 Reaction of the Public towards Street Children 71 3.3 Summary 73 CHAPTER FOUR: CHILDREN’S PERCEPTION OF STREET LIFE 74 4.1 Research Process 74 4.1.1 Research Conditions and Children Interviewed 74 4.1.2 Sample Choice 76 4.1.3 Evaluation of the Interviews 77 4.2 Public View versus Street Children’s Perception 85 4.2.1 Background 85 4.2.2 Needs 87 4.2.3 Risks 90 4.2.4 Coping Strategies 92 4.3 Summary 95 CONCLUSION 97 BIBLIOGRAPHY 106 v LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS TABLES Table 1: Country profile of the Philippines 23 Table 2: City profile of Cebu 26 Table 3: Policy and legal framework targeted at street and working children 34 Table 4: Member organisations of the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children: Project focus, services, and clientele 41 Table 5: Categories of children’s rights: survival, development, protection and participation 48 Table 6: Legal documents related to children’s rights 49 Table 7: Working children in the Philippines 50 Table 8: Project strategies: reactive, protective and rights-based 54 Table 9: Constructed polarities of “home” and “street” 60 Table 10: Public perception of street children in Cebu City 63 Table 11: Norms and norm deviance in the discourse on street children 69 Table 12: Evaluation of the interviews with the children 77 Table 13: Key elements of the paradigm shift in theory, research, and work with and for street children 98 FIGURES Figure 1: Illustration of Filipino children’s rights in a booklet 32 Figure 2: Cebu City map 76 Figure 3: Stakeholders involved in the Philippine street child problem 97 DRAWINGS “No Mercy” – boy, seven years old 85 “My biggest wish” – boy, nine years old 90 “Begging” – boy, eight years old 93 “Collecting garbage” – boy, seven years old 93 PHOTOS At Community Scouts, 8 September 2005 45 Street children, Cebu City, 2005 74, 75, 76, 96 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS BBRC Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Centre BCPC Barangay Council for the Protection of Children CAFT Children’s Help and Assistance Foundation, Inc. CCIAC Cebu City Inter-Agency Committee CCTFSC Cebu City Task Force on Street Children CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CCTFSC Cebu City Task Force on Street Children CHD City Health Department CICL Children in Conflict with the Law CEDC Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances CFM Child Friendly Movement CNSP Children in Need of Special Protection CNSPM Children in Need of Special Protection Measures CRB Country Report Bangkok CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSPD child survival, protection, development and participation CWC Council for the Welfare of Children DECS Department of Education, Culture and Sports DIC drop-in centre DILG Department of Interior and Local Government DOH Department of Health DSWD Department of Social Welfare and Development DSWS Department of Social Welfare and Services FREELAVA Free Rehabilitation, Economic, Education, and Legal Assistance of Volunteers Association, Inc. GOP Government of the Philippines ICAC Inter-City Alliance for Street Children ICCSE Inter-City Committee on Street Education ILO International Labour Organization IPEC International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour LGC Local Government Code LGEF Local Government Empowerment Fund vii LGU Local Government Units MBN minimum basic needs MDG Millennium Development Goals NACLA North American Congress on Latin America NBOO National Barangay Operations Office NCRFW National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women NCSD National Council of Social Development NEDA National Economic and Development Authority NS night shelters NGO non-governmental organization NPC-PNP National Police Commission Philippine National Police NPSC National Project on Street Children NSO National Statistics Office PAF Poverty Alleviation Fund PAR participatory action research PD Presidential Decree PICAC Philippine Inter-City Alliance for Street Children PNP Philippine National Police PO people’s organization PPAC Philippine Plan of Action for Children RWG-CL Regional Working Group on Child Labour SRA Social Reform Agenda UBSP Urban Basic Service Programme UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNDP United Nations Development Programme WHO World Health Organization viii GLOSSARY balay house bata sa kadalanan street child batang kalye street child barangay basic political unit in the Philippines barangay lupon barangay judge – highest judiciary representative at the barangay level barangay sangguninang barangay captain – highest legislative representative at the barangay level barangay tanod barangay police – highest executive representative at the barangay level barkada peer group or gang carenderia small food stall dalan street gamines street children – term used in Colombia kalye street katarungan pambarangay judiciary organ at the community level labandera laundry woman “Mga anghel na walang langit” “Many angels are without a heaven” – title of a soap opera about street children mingaw loneliness, longing for somebody or something ongo ghost or witch Oplan Sagip Bata Child Rescue Operation rugby solvent used as drug sampaguita white aromatic flowers often used for decorating altars sangguninang pambarangay barangay council – highest legislative organ at the barangay level sari-sari store small variety store ix INTRODUCTION One of the growing social problems associated with poverty in many countries of the South is the increasing number of children living and working on the streets of the larger cities.