CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 Working girl children 411. Due to intensive lobbying and advocacy efforts, the Philippine government ratified ILO Convention 138 (Minimum Age for Admission to Employment) in 1998 and ILO Convention 182 (Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor) in 2000. To enforce these conventions, the labor department has formulated policies and developed and implemented programs and projects to progressively eliminate the worst forms of child labor. In 1999, it issued an updated list of hazardous work and activities for working children, which includes, among others, work which exposes children to physical, psychological and sexual abuse such as those in lewd shows, cabarets, bars and dance halls. As of end of 2001, there had been five convictions against persons who violated RA 7658 (minimum employable age) and RA 7610 (special protection against child abuse, exploitation and discrimination), particularly on the use of children in obscene publications and indecent shows. 412. The government campaign against child labor is contained in the National Program of Action against Child Labor, which has as its flagship activity, the Sagip Batang Manggagawa (Save the Child Worker) Project. Officially launched in 1994, the project is an inter-agency quick action mechanism led by the labor department for detecting, monitoring and rescuing child laborers in hazardous and exploitative working conditions. An interdisciplinary team attended to the rescued children for their healing and reintegration with the family and community. From 1993 to the first semester of 2001, the project launched 303 rescue operations, liberating 1,000 minors from slave or bonded labor, prostitution and other hazardous activities. In 2000, a new program framework covering the period 2000-2004 was crafted, which focuses on eliminating the worst forms of child labor; transforming the lives of child laborers, their families and communities; and ensuring that the children will be protected and/or withdrawn from hazardous activities, healed and reintegrated into a caring society. 413. The labor department’s inspectorate program targets establishments suspected of employing child workers. To strengthen the program, the department, through the Bureau of Working Conditions, conducted in 1995 Specialized Training of Labor Inspectors on Child Labor, and developed a supplement inspection form on violation of the anti-child labor law. From 1996 to 2000, a total of 568 female child workers were found in 255 establishments. Children in hazardous work were removed outright from the establishment but with restitution of unpaid benefits. 414. From 1997 to 1999, the regional offices of the labor department launched their own initiatives. The Northern Luzon office implemented an ILO project, ”Integrated Prevention and Protection Program of Children in the Tourism and Hotel Industry.” It organized a support network of concerned citizens against child labor among owners and managers of hotels, tourism and entertainment establishments assisting in the program implementation. This increased awareness among the owners, their staff and their customers about the issues on child labor, benefiting girl-children from different provinces who were illegally recruited and abused. In the Visayas, Southern Luzon and Bicol regions, the labor department implemented an operational plan to curb trafficking of children for exploitative employment. The plan consists of intra and inter-regional schemes designed to closely monitor children being illegally recruited in the provinces. 113