SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA)—The Regional Council Against Child Labor (RCACL) Ilocos, chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), initiates another advocacy activity to raise awareness of child labor and bring various government services closer to profiled child laborers and their guardians in the Ilocos Region.
The information and service caravan will be staged at the Don Leopoldo Sison Convention Center in Alaminos City, Pangasinan, on Nov. 26, 2024, coinciding with the celebration of National Children’s Month.
Dionne Cleo Cruz, senior labor and employment officer of DOLE, said the activity is one way for the council to strengthen its advocacy efforts against child labor, considering that Ilocos Region is among the regions in the country with a significant occurrence of child labor.
“The Ilocos Region is one of the first four regions in the country to conduct the said information and service caravan,” Cruz said.
She noted, “However, our region was selected because it ranked fifth nationwide with a high incidence of child labor.”
Based on the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are 828,000 working children from 2020-2022, of which 7.7 percent, or 63,756 are from the Ilocos Region.
Around 150 profiled working children with their respective parents or guardians from across the region will be served at the event.
Member agencies of RCACL are working together to feature booths or information desks, art exhibits, pampering and grooming services, dental and medical care, and a station for learning supplies.
Also, livelihood starter kits and short-term courses of skills training will be provided.
Children-beneficiaries may also enjoy the food carts of meals, snacks, and sweet treats, as well as the inflatable playground and the magic show.
“The event will be carnival-themed, as we want the children-beneficiaries to experience how it feels like to be a child who can just play around,” Cruz said.
The majority of the recipients of the caravan are from Pangasinan, while a limited number of beneficiaries will be coming from the three provinces of the region in consideration of transportation concerns. (AMB/CGCC, PIA Region 1)
