New admin called on to address child labor problem

A non-government organization has called on the new administration under President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to give full attention in stemming the rising number of child labor cases in the Philippines, as the country joins the celebration of the World Day Against Child Labor today.

The End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT)-Philippines said there is a need to strengthen local efforts in addressing the surge in number of dropouts and child laborers in the community.

The World Day Against Child Labor is usually held every June 12 in many member-states of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The celebration, which started in 2002, aims to call attention to the global extent of child labor and urge for more efforts to eliminate it, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said.

Roque said ILO member-states, including the Philippines, have set a goal to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has set in place programs aimed at preventing child labor and eliminating its worst forms.

He moreover said anti-child labor programs of the Philippine government, which include the Sagip Batang Manggagawa, is aimed at removing children found engaging in hazardous occupations, particularly the worst forms of occupations.

A survey on children conducted by the National Statistics Office last year, showed there were 5 million working children aged 5 to 17 in the Philippines. Of this figure, 2.5 million are employed in dangerous work and around 20,000 engaged in mining and quarrying.

ECPAT said despite the presence of the Anti-Child Labor Law, or Republic Act 9231, a conviction has yet to be made on those employing children for hazardous work.

Forms of child labor is defined under RA 9231 as “the use of children in slavery, including armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, illegal activities, including production and trafficking of drugs; and work that is hazardous to the health, safety, or morals of children.”

Groups advocating child rights said the implementation of the law is hampered by the difficulty of monitoring and lack of efforts from the local levels.

The DoLE has intensified efforts against child labor by providing livelihood assistance to parents of child laborers and educational assistance to victims of child labor.

On Wednesday, the Labor department launched a campaign against child labor with the theme” Go for the Goal: End Child Labor.” –Mina Diaz, DAily Tribune