The rights of Filipino children in armed conflict: reflections on international and national legal frameworks

There is a great amount of international attention directed towards the recruitment and involvement of children in armed conflict. In response to this, Philippine legislators have passed laws to assist and protect these children. However, most of these are not reflective of the reality of children and may even further disadvantage them. This paper explores international and national policies directed towards children in armed conflict through the perspective of children’s rights. It aims to paint a more realistic and rights-oriented approach towards the understanding of children in armed conflict. The importance of this not only rests on the growing amount of international attention directed towards this issue, but more importantly, because doing so promotes efforts in fulfilling the fundamental rights of children.