According to the latest UNICEF study (2025), there are 38.7 million children aged 17 and below in the Philippines. Each Filipino child dreams of a life and future of development, well-being, joy, security, and dignity for their communities.
Children are recognized as a vulnerable sector due to their limited level of development, but it is also their rapid development that makes children adaptable. As children go through stages of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development, they learn quickly and have the skills to adapt and change society.
The majority of Filipino children are born to farmers in rural areas, while another large number of them are born to working class families. This means that most Filipino children are shaped by the cultural and economic realities of farmers and workers, who are the most impoverished and exploited people in the country.
Therefore children, as a vulnerable population, face the brunt of the current social and economic crisis of Philippine society. Children are forcibly trapped in the nightmare of poverty, hunger, illness, deprivation, violence, fear, and suppression under the Marcos Jr regime.
This Children’s Month, while the social and economic crisis worsens in the country, we recognize the Filipino children as shapers of their society. We seek to uplift their dreams, and we call for their rights to be upheld.
Join ICHRP – along with the Foundation for Filipino Children, Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns, and the Children’s Rehabilitation Center – this month for an info series on the situation of the Filipino children and how you can also support their dreams.
