Parents cause of child labor in Compostela Valley gold mines —DOLE

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment vowed Wednesday to eliminate child labor in the mines of Compostela Valley, where some children work as gold ore porters on the insistence of their parents.

In a statement, the DOLE said children in Maragusan, Compostela Valley, were employed to carry sacks of ore weighing “50 kilos or more” for P50 per sack.

“They carry ore gravel in sacks weighing 50 kilos or more from the tunnel entrance to the loading station, negotiating slippery and treacherous mountain trail,” the statement said.

“Some children work as workers in ball mills, water porters and even avanteros (miners). The pay is quick and easy, and children are receiving P50 per sack.”

The DOLE said many of the children were of the Mandaya tribe—one of the largest indigenous communities in Region 11—from Kagan Valley.

To begin countering the practice, the DOLE office in Region 11 conducted profiling interviews and a workshop to draw up an action plan “aimed at eliminating child labor in the mines.”

However, the DOLE discovered through the profiling interviews that some parents “knew” that their children were working in the mines.

“In some areas, it was the parents themselves who brought them to the mines. Parents were mostly farmers,” the DOLE news release said.

“The children were no longer interested to go back to school (but) they aspire to put up a small business someday,” it added.

The DOLE recommended that the road to Kagan Valley be completed to open up the area to economic opportunities “so the parents wouldn’t have to risk their children’s lives in working in the mines.”

It said all minors should immediately be removed from the mining area while the “gambling establishments preying on the children” should be shut down.

The DOLE also said that there should be a “values re-education” for parents who push their minor children to work in the mines.

The Labor department added that it had presented its recommendations to the Compostela Valley provincial council. –Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer