MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano called on the Aquino administration to implement stronger interventions in addressing child labor in the country, including stiffer penalties for private companies that employ minors in hazardous working conditions.
He will make the same call at the global commemoration of World Day Against Child Labor on June 12, 2012.
He said the Philippines is one of the signatories to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention on the Elimination of Child Labor but there are not enough measures to address the problem as there are 4 million child workers, with 2.4 million of them in the worst forms of child labor according to 2001 figures from the National Statistics Office.
ILO estimates that 215 million children worldwide are involved in child labor, with half of them victims of slavery, sale and trafficking, prostitution, and pornography. Worst forms of child labor also include the recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and illicit activities such as drug trafficking.
“Children that are forced to work under hazardous conditions suffer long term scars not only physically but more psychological and moral damages,” said Cayetano.
He said the state has an obligation to send children to school and prevent them from being deprived of education and training that can help lift them out of cyclical poverty.
The ILO Minimum Age Convention requires states to specify a minimum age for admission to employment equivalent to not less than the age of finishing compulsory education, or in the Philippines not less than 15 years.
The senator pointed out that local government units particularly barangay leaders play a critical role in addressing child labor in their communities.
“Local leaders should increase awareness on the presence of manufacturing, mining, and other private companies in their communities that engage in illegal child labor practices and immediately ban their operations,” he said. –Karl John Reyes, InterAksyon.com
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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