- 31 - C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant 107. The Committee observes that economic difficulties, aggravated by a strong migration from rural to urban areas and the servicing of the external debt, have had a constraining influence on the implementation of the Covenant. 108. Politico-social obstacles, including oligarchical and entrenched conservative religious influences, have often inhibited and aborted attempts to improve the lot of the disadvantaged classes and to remove some of the sociocultural ills which beset the Philippines. 109. The Committee also notes the highly detrimental consequences of the persisting civil conflict in the south of the country for the effective implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. D. Principal subjects of concern 110. The Committee was unable to ascertain the precise status of the Covenant in terms of its practical relevance within the judicial system. It notes that the National Human Rights Commission has not been accorded judicial powers in relation to human rights matters and that this has been a matter of some controversy within the Philippines. The delegation was unable to give details of any specific instance in which the Covenant had been successfully applied by domestic courts. 111. With regard to the issue of divorce, the Committee notes the different legal provisions applying in the predominantly Muslim provinces where the Shari’a is given effect and the other parts of the Philippines, where divorce is legally forbidden. The Committee is concerned about the discriminatory aspects of this approach and notes that civil marriage and divorce should be regulated so as to leave to the individuals concerned the duties that religion imposes. The prohibition of divorce often results in the breakdown of families, with highly detrimental consequences, particularly for abandoned women and children and also for the children of subsequent cohabitations, who must, by definition, be born out of wedlock. The Committee also regrets the apparent increase in incidents of domestic violence. 112. The Committee is concerned about the lack of resources devoted by the Government to preventing and combating the economic and sexual exploitation of children. It notes that the official government statistics relating to cases of child sexual exploitation are radically lower than apparently more reliable estimates from a variety of other sources. It is not convinced that the Government is doing enough to satisfy its obligations under the Covenant to seek to protect these children. The same observation applies with respect to the problem of street children. The Committee also expresses regret at the lack of mechanisms to monitor the application of the laws governing the legal minimum age of employment and the protection of children in labour matters, as required by the provisions of the Covenant. 113. The Committee is also concerned about the fact that, in the great majority of detention centres, juvenile offenders are detained together with