TWR-Philippines Website

www.twrphilippines.com

Country Profile

The Philippines is an archipelago comprising more than 7,000 islands that stretch from the south of China to the northern tip of Borneo. It is home to over 50 people groups or tribes speaking over 170 dialects.

The population of about 90 million is predominantly Christian, with the Roman Catholic Church wielding a lot of influence. Of the 93 percent who are Christian, about 72 percent of them are Roman Catholic (Joshuaproject.net).

Needs

The Philippines today is rife with various social afflictions such as poverty and crime, and most of the needs are related to children and women.

Child labor is recognized as a serious problem in the Philippines. In the third quarter of 1991, the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment estimated that there were 777,000 Filipino workers between the ages of 10 and 14, and 1.4 million between 15 and 17 years. These figures exclude the large number of working children below the age of 10 (United States Department of Labor).

Another major problem that children in the Philippines face is commercial sexual exploitation. It has been reported that victims of commercial sexual exploitation are generally between the ages of 13 to 18, belong to large families, and comprise a large number of out-of-school youth. The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Philippines reported that there were about 350 cases of commercial sexual exploitation in 2004.

A 2002 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey revealed that out-of-school Filipino children and youth numbered 14.7 percent, or 4.8 million, out of about 33 million children and youth aged 6 to 24 years (www.census.gov.ph). Among the major reasons why Filipino youth drop-out from school are drugs, poverty and peer pressure. Yet, almost all of them recognize the importance of education, and the majority would like to return to school if given the chance.

Violence at home, prostitution, human trafficking and other issues continue to affect the lives of women and their families. The Philippines government and NGOs estimate that the number of women trafficked overseas range from 300,000 to 400,000. Many Filipino women migrate voluntarily to work abroad but are later coerced into exploitative conditions (United States Department of State, Human Rights Report, 2006). Internal trafficking of women from rural areas to urban areas also exists. The women are trafficked for sexual exploitation or forced labor as domestic workers, factory workers, or the drug trade (United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, 2007).