Child labor-free villages endeavored

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Norte/PIAT, Cagayan — The campaign for child labor-free barangays stepped up a gear, particularly in northern Luzon, with support from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and national leaders that have anchored on the theme, “Pagtutulungan, Pagpapalaya sa mga Batang Manggagawa (Cooperation in Freeing Children from Hard Labor).”

As part of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor, various campaigns led by the DOLE in cooperation with local governments in different parts of the country target a 75 percent reduction of child laborers by 2015.

Last July 2, the DOLE Regional Office 2 launched the anti-child labor campaign at the Cagayan Robina Sugar Milling Corporation (CARSUMCO) in Piat with 25 child laborers and their parents attending the event.

Speaking to the crowd composed of residents from Sto Domingo in Piat; Sampaguita in Solana; Bugnay, Pugo, and San Vicente in Tuao who work in the sugar plantations,  Michael Alviar, CARSUMCO operations manager, said children should grow up normally.

“It is sad to note that because of poverty, some parents force their children to work. It is not bad to teach our children to work, to be industrious and responsible but this should be done during their day off in school,” Alviar said.

DOLE Region 2 Director Sixto T. Rodriguez Jr. thanked the support of the municipal officials of Piat, Tuao and Solana including the five pilot barangays and the District Tripartite Council of the Sugar Industry which will be rid of child laborers.

Senator Loren Legarda had also expressed alarm over the result of the latest National Statistics Office (NSO) Survey on Children which revealed that the incidence of child labor has risen to 30% over the past 10 years.

Legarda, author of the Anti-Child Labor Law or Republic Act 9231, stressed that with child labor incidence now at its all-time high, with 5.49 million working children aged five to 17 years old, concerned government institutions should boost efforts to address the problem and ensure proper implementation of pertinent laws.

She expressed full support to the DOLE’s “Batang Malaya (Free Children)” campaign which was launched earlier this week in Ilocos Sur. –FREDDIE G. LAZARO, Manila Bulletin