NSO: About 3 million Filipino kids into dangerous labor

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Almost 3 million Filipino children are into dangerous labor, the National Statistics Office bared in its recent survey on children.

About 5.49 million Filipino children aged five to 17 years have already experienced work in their life, the state agency noted.

The NSO also bared that two in every 10 children in Cordillera, three in every 10 children Northern Mindanao and one in every 10 children in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have already experienced work in their life.

Among children into hazardous labor, two-thirds are boys while one-third are girls.

NSO added that most of those children into hazardous labor came largely from the the regions of Central Luzon (10.6 percent) and Bicol (10.2 percent) while the least percentage resided in CAR with only 2.3 percent.

NSO’s preliminary data were the result of 2011 Survey on Children, conducted among an estimated 29 million Filipino children.

NSO-CAR Director Olivia Gulla said that the 2011 Survey on Children is a nationwide survey designed to collect data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of working children five to 17 years old, which will be used by government planners and policy-makers in crafting the needed programs and policies in addressing the country’s child labor concerns.

A series of surveys were undertaken by the NSO as part of the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.

“This third survey, which was conducted last October 2011, aims to provide comprehensive and updated analysis of the state of the nation’s working children, five to 17 years old, identifying major parameters such as priority groups, patterns and extent of child work and the condition of their work, as well as of their non-work activities such as schooling and engagement in unpaid household services”, Gulla said.

Following the ILO methodology and modifying the questionnaire, the survey was administered to selected sample households and working children themselves.

Three questionnaires were used, wherein household questionnaire-respondents were either one of the parents or guardian of the child/children or the working child himself in situations where children younger than 10 years old, who could not speak up for themselves and or may not understand the questions being asked are being assisted by parents or guardians or their older siblings during interviews. –Artemio Dumlao (philstar.com)