The regional director of the Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday expressed fears that children are being used as child laborers in gold-rich areas in Compostela Valley Province.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Dr. Susana Estigoy said only eight children enrolled in the Singapore Primary School in Mabini, Compostela Valley Province as of June 29, when enrolment was formally closed.
The school used to have a minimum of 100 enrollees.
“Maybe, the children are now in the mining sites,” Estigoy said.
She said she already gave instruction to locate the unenrolled children so DepEd can decide whether to close the school and merge the eight enrolled students to a nearby school in the municipality of Mabini.
She said Singapore Primary School is located in a very remote area in Mabini.
Estigoy said if the authorized school authorities in said school cannot track down the children, “they might recommend for the closure of the school.”
If the recommendation for closure pushes through, it would be first time for DepEd to do so, she said.
A primary school in Pamintaran, Maragusan, Compostela Valley was nearly recommended for closure when many of the 150 enrolled pupils did not show up for class.
She said the school’s superintendent was thinking of closing down the school; fortunately, the children were located soon after.
Based on DepEd study, many school children in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte , and Davao del Sur are engaged in child labor.
The study showed that in Compostela Valley Province, many children are working in the mining industry.
Child labor in mining and quarrying is one of the priority sectors of ABK2 Initiative, a special project funded by the United States Department of Labor to combat child labor through education in the Philippines.
The other priority sectors are children in fishing; children in commercial sexual exploitation, children in domestic work; children in pyrotechnics; and children in sugarcane plantations. –JUDY QUIROS, Daily Mirror
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
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July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
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