Philippines Builds National Roadmap to End Child Labour, Trafficking and Slavery

The initiative supports the country’s bid to become an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder country, with a coordinated response extending through 2030.

The Philippines is developing a national roadmap to tackle forced labour, child labour, human trafficking and modern slavery, bringing survivors into discussions about how protection should work for people facing exploitation. Government agencies, workers' and employers' organizations, civil society and survivor networks met in Manila on 23–24 September 2026 to shape the plan, reaffirming commitments through the National Council Against Child Labor and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). The initiative supports the country's bid to become an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder country, with a coordinated response extending through 2030.

A shared plan with a practical purpose

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) expressed interest in Pathfinder status in 2025, seeking stronger cooperation under the global partnership supporting United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, which calls for immediate, effective action against these forms of exploitation. DOLE Assistant Secretary Loreto Acharon said the platform would help expand national efforts, with participation offering opportunities to share Philippine experience and access technical assistance, strategic resources and peer learning. DOLE described the roadmap as a shared commitment to action across institutions and communities.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is providing technical guidance with Free the Slaves through two Canadian government-funded projects: Strengthening Freedom of Association and Action Against Child Labour (FOA-CL), and Promoting Responsive Institutions and Mechanisms to Eliminate Forced Labour in the Philippines (PRIME PH). ILO Country Office Director Khalid Hassan linked ending exploitation with breaking poverty cycles and securing social justice, stressing that decent work cannot coexist with children trapped in child labour or people exposed to trafficking and forced labour.

Falling child labour figures reveal only part of the picture

The number of working children engaged in child labour fell from 678,000 in 2023 to 509,000 in 2025, giving the Philippines progress to build upon through action aligned with the Marrakech Global Framework for Action against Child Labour. Forced labour remains difficult to measure because much of it stays hidden, with available evidence pointing to continuing risks for vulnerable workers, particularly those in informal employment. Authorities identified 890 trafficking victims in 2024, including 345 victims of labour trafficking; these figures describe identified cases rather than the full scale of exploitation.

Victims faced exploitation in agriculture, domestic work, construction, fishing, manufacturing, maritime occupations and online-facilitated schemes, involving deceptive recruitment, debt bondage, withheld wages or identity documents, excessive hours and restrictions on movement. Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said the roadmap would strengthen existing efforts, with DOJ and IACAT pledging alignment. The department highlighted deceptive recruitment into foreign conflict zones and forced labour in agriculture and fishing as pressing challenges.

Survivors help shape protection and accountability

Survivors and advocates are contributing recommendations grounded in exploitation and efforts to rebuild their lives, giving the roadmap knowledge that institutional planning alone cannot provide. Susanita Tesiorna, president of the Alliance of Workers in the Informal Economy/Sector, called for urgent protection of vulnerable workers, including those in domestic work, agriculture, maritime occupations and online-facilitated schemes. Employers Confederation of the Philippines Governor Clarine Tobias reaffirmed employers' commitments to fair recruitment, decent work standards and ethical supply chains.

Free the Slaves is building the capacity of stakeholders and survivor networks to stay involved in implementation, with Executive Director Bukeni Waruzi emphasizing that delivery will be the crucial test of the inclusive process. The organization and ILO regional specialist Bharati Pflug contributed technical advice. Partners identified gaps in data and definitions, coordination, institutional capacity, funding, laws, public awareness, survivor support and outreach to underserved groups, proposing stronger data systems, survivor-centred case management, legal reforms, financing, private sector accountability and targeted awareness campaigns. Governance arrangements, stakeholder roles, accountability, resource mobilization and communications are being mapped into the roadmap, which the Philippines plans to submit to the Alliance 8.7 Secretariat for endorsement in the final quarter of 2026.