Short answer. Yes. RA 7610 declares children Zones of Peace and states that they shall not be the object of attack and are entitled to special respect, protected from threat, assault, and torture. Children in armed conflict are now primarily governed by Republic Act No. 11188 (2019), which builds on that principle.
What the law says
Children shall not be the object of attack and shall be entitled to special respect. They shall be protected from any form of threat, assault, torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment
RA 7610, Section 22 — Children As Zones Of Peace. Read the full provision →
Children as Zones of Peace
The law makes a strong declaration: children are Zones of Peace, and it becomes the responsibility of the State and all sectors concerned to resolve armed conflicts with that goal in mind. The first policy is the core of the answer: "Children shall not be the object of attack and shall be entitled to special respect. They shall be protected from any form of threat, assault, torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment." So children are placed outside the fighting as a matter of law — not incidental casualties to be regretted afterward, but persons whom the parties to a conflict are bound to shield from deliberate harm.
The protection is broader than not being shot at
The section lists several further policies. Children shall not be recruited into the armed forces, their civilian units, or other armed groups, nor used as combatants, guides, couriers, or spies. The delivery of basic social services — education, primary health, and emergency relief — must be kept unhampered. Public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and rural health units may not be used for military purposes like command posts or barracks. And all appropriate steps must be taken to reunite families temporarily separated by the conflict. The protection covers a child's safety, schooling, health, and family, not just their life.
Who is bound, and who else is shielded
These are duties on the State and all sectors concerned — they run against the parties who wage and manage armed conflict. The law also protects those who help: the safety of service providers and of people on fact-finding missions, from both government and non-government institutions, must be ensured, and they may not be subjected to undue harassment in their work. That matters because children in a conflict zone depend on relief workers and monitors reaching them; shielding the helpers is part of shielding the children.
The current framework: RA 11188
The principle stated here still stands, but it is no longer the operative law on its own. Republic Act No. 11188 (2019), the law on the special protection of children in situations of armed conflict, now supplies the definitions, the detailed protections, and the state responsibilities for children caught in armed conflict. Anyone dealing with a real situation should read this Zones of Peace declaration together with RA 11188, which is the current framework. This is general information about the protections the law lays down, not advice on a particular situation.