Breaking free from child labor
BAGUIO CITY (PIA) – Child labor remains a pressing problem not only in the Philippines but in the world.
In 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported an estimated 1.09 million working children aged 5 to 17, with an estimated 678,000. While the number is lower compared to the 828,000 in 2022, child labor remains a major challenge in the country.
According to the International Labor Organization, child labor is defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
Based on the Child Labor: 2020 Global Estimates, 160 million children in the world are engaged in child labor, accounting nearly one in 10 worldwide. Almost half or around 79 million children are in hazardous work.
Leonardo Doguil, Regional Focal Person of the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program of the Department of Labor and Employment in Cordillera (DOLE -CAR), said that based on the PSA data, there were 12,500 child laborers in the Cordillera in 2019; 9,700 in 2020; 18,600 in 2021; 14,200 in 2022; and 12,306 in 2023.
What has been done?
The DOLE-CAR was able to profile 3,521 child laborers in the region in 2019; 583 in 2021; 2,799 in 2022; 88 in 2023; and 1,268 in 2024 or a total of 8,259.
Doguil noted they were unable to profile child laborers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In profiling child laborers, we need to know where these child laborers are so that we would be able to address and provide appropriate interventions to remove them from child labor,” said Doguil.
DOLE-CAR OIC Regional Director Imelda Romanillos said they intend to profile more than 2,000 child laborers in the region this year.
“After the profiling, we have to see the results so that we may be able to refer the child laborers to the appropriate agencies for their intervention,” Romanillos said.
Sagip Batang Manggagawa
For its part, the DOLE has rolled out the Sagip Batang Manggagawa (SBM), an inter-agency quick-action mechanism that aims to respond to cases of child labor in extremely abject conditions. The agency employs an inter-agency quick action team composed of DOLE, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and law-enforcement agencies as core members for detecting, monitoring, and rescuing child laborers in hazardous and exploitative working conditions.
A total of 113 child laborers in the region were rescued through the program in 2021.
Project Angel Tree
Under the Project Angel Tree project, 319 child laborers were provided with school supplies in 2022.
The project aims to provide various social services that range from food, school supplies, and hygiene kits made available by sponsors or benefactors or “angels” to child laborers and their families.
Livelihood Assistance to Parents
The provision of livelihood assistance to parents of child laborers is a strategic response to prevent and eliminate child labor.
Doguil said that a total of 63 parents were provided with livelihood assistance in 2021, and 177 parents in 2022. A minimum of at least P30,000 was given to every parent.
Moreover, Romanillos said that the DOLE partners with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for the skills acquisition, upskilling, and reskilling of parents of children for them to start a small enterprise.
This will help stop parents from sending their children to work and instead send their kids back to school, she said.
Advocacy Campaigns
Meanwhile, the DOLE-CAR has continued its advocacy campaigns using various media platforms to curb the employment of children.
From 2019 to 2024, it was able to conduct a total of 12 advocacy campaigns especially during the World Day Against Child Labor in June, and the National Children’s Month in November.
Strengthening Partnerships
The labor department continues to strengthen its partnership with various agencies and organizations to promote the well-being of children.
A Regional Anti-Child Labor Committee has been created to combat child labor. The committee consists of representatives from various government agencies and civil society organizations to develop strategies to address the pervasive child labor problem.
“For the Department of Labor and Employment, we cannot do it alone, we need partnership, like World Vision and other organizations who are promoting the well-being of our children. Interventions that we need that will be life-changing for both the children, their parents, and the family as a whole,” Romanillos said.
She called on everyone to lend a helping hand to free the children from labor and bring them back to school.
Various local government units in the Cordillera have also committed their support to the programs and projects to eliminate child labor.
All the said programs and activities are aligned with the Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL), a national program for the prevention and elimination of child labor for a child labor-free Philippines.
The PPACL expects to transform the lives of child laborers, their families, and communities to regain their sense of self-worth, and attain empowerment, and development. It also works toward the prevention and progressive elimination of child labor through protection, withdrawal, healing, and reintegration of child workers into a caring society. (DEG-PIA CAR)
