Seventeenth Congress
Third Regular Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-third day of July, two thousand eighteen.
REPUBLIC ACT No. 11188
An Act Providing for the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict and
Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Special Protection of Children in Situations of
Armed Conflict Act".
Section 2. Declaration of Stale Policy. - It shall be the policy of the State to provide special protection
to children in situations of armed conflict from all forms of abuse, violence, neglect, cruelty,
discrimination and other conditions prejudicial to their development, taking into consideration their
gender, cultural, ethnic and religious background. For this purpose, the State shall:
(a) Fully implement the protection guaranteed under the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in
armed conflict and all other core human rights treaties, particularly, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; other pertinent international
instruments such as the International Labor Organization Convention No. 182
concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of
child labor; the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional protocols ratified by the
Philippines; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) General Recommendation No. 30 and the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines
and on their Destruction;
(b) Take into account the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,
the United Nations Security Council Resolutions related to children affected by armed
conflict, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) No. 1820 on Women,
Peace and Security, and other pertinent international instruments in the implementation
of its treaty obligations and of this Act;
(c) Respect the human rights of children at all times. It shall be recognized that children
are entitled to dignity and respect as human beings in need of protection from
degradation, humiliation, maltreatment, exploitation and assault;
(d) Consider as paramount the best interests of children, and treat all children involved
in, affected by or displaced by armed conflict as victims;