5.5M Filipino children in child labor: stories of poverty, tears, but also hope

MANILA, Philippines — Frail-looking and gaunt, one would not think that 14-year-old Jeraldine Macapaar Aboy or Pitang could lift tons of sugarcane and load them in a truck.

Pitang said the work was hard, but her body has gotten to used to it. After all, she has been working in a sugarcane plantation in Don Carlos in Bukidnon province since she was six.

She started as a helper to her father in the plantation, and when she turned eight, she began working full-time Sakada as replacement to her father, who has become sickly.

For a day’s work, she earns P120, which she gives to her mother and father for food and other expenses of the family.

At 10, she stopped schooling – unable to make both ends meet, and because it has become impossible for her to work and at the same time, attend classes.

Pitang was among the children engaged in labor in either mines or plantations, and are exposed to dangerous and hazardous conditions, lowly paid and forced to live adult lives.

According to a research conducted by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education (EILER), which was supported by the European Union, there are two child laborers for every 10 households in plantation and mining communities.

“This is alarming because there should be no household with child laborers,” Anna Leah Escresa-Colina, EILER executive director and project manager of the Bata Balik Eskwela (BBE).

The study, conducted from April to October 2014, covered a total of 700 households, with 3,859 household members. Respondents from the mining communities were composed of 353 households (50.4 percent), while those coming from the plantations were composed of 347 households (49.6 percent).

Various methods were employed in the study such as survey questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews.

The data were gathered from the following areas: Malaya, Labo, Camarines Norte; Napoles, Bago City, Negros Occidental; San Nicolas, Don Carlos, Bukidnon; Pantaron, Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte; Mt. Diwata, Monkayo, Compostela Valley; and, Manat, Trento, Agusan del Sur.

Most of the child laborers interviewed were aged between 11 and 17 years. While there were children who started working as young as five, most of the children began working at 12, the study said.

Most of the child laborers reached the Grade 6 level. Those who have stopped attending school represented 76 percent of the respondents, while 24 percent said they are still in school. However, 62 percent of those who continued schooling said they frequently miss their classes.

Child laborers in oil palm plantation serve as fruiters, harvesters, pruning, and haulers/loaders. In sugarcane plantations, they are engaged in weeding, harvesting and fetching water. In banana plantations, the children work in harvesting, loading bunches of banana, bagging and de-leafing.

In mines, the study said that child laborers usually fetch water, do mucking out of gravel, carry sacks of rocks, or carry thick logs used to support the tunnels. Girls in mines work in gold panning.

Almost half of the child laborers receive P130 to P150 a day, which was 36 percent to 50 percent lower than the wages of regular plantation workers.

Whatever amount received by the child laborers was spent for food, clothes, toys, debt payment and house repairs.

Forced to live adult lives

“Work available to children is often dangerous and hazardous to their health, which is worsened by the lack of any personal protective equipment. They are exposed to chemicals or use of heavy equipment without any proper training on their use,” according to the study.

It added that, “At an early age, they are forced to live adult lives. They are exposed to activities that are usually reserved for adults, including gambling, drinking and smoking.”

“Worse, child labor, especially in plantations and mines, provide no means by which the children and their families may escape the vicious cycle of generational poverty,” it said.

The Bata Balik Eskwela of EILER and the European Union is helping make a dent on the fight against child labor, and are slowly plucking out the children from the hazardous work environment and bringing them back to school.

According to Colina, at least 105 child laborers are now back in school in six key areas that are beneficiaries of the community-based program. She said that the project’s education component will be complemented by the livelihood trainings for the children’s parents, as well as advocacy initiatives to raise awareness on child labor.

The learning centers established are in Don Carlos Bukidnon (25 students); Labo, Camarines Norte (25); Monkayo, Compostela Valley (17); Trento, Agusan del Sur (15); Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte (13); and Bago City, Negros Occidental (10).

The curriculum being used was based on the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System designed for out-of-school youth.

Downward trend

At a forum where the findings of the study were presented, Ambassador Guy Ledoux, head of the European Union delegation in the Philippines, said the report of the International Labor Organization that there was now a downward trend in the incidence of child labor worldwide was encouraging.

From approximately 226 million in 2000, the latest figures showed that the incidence of children engaged in labor went down to 168 million, which equals to a 74% reduction, he said.

“Even more encouraging is the fact that the fastest decline rate has been recorded in the most harmful areas of work: from 171 million affected children, it is now down to 85 million,” he added.

But Ledoux acknowledged that more work needs to be done because there are still 5.5 million Filipino children engaged in child labor, with 3 million “trapped in the worst forms of labor.”

“Reducing the vulnerabilities of impoverished children means coming to terms with the real causes of poverty,” he said.

“Child labor is a function of the status of wages, of the state of agriculture and industries, of the kinds of employment opportunities, of the state of governance. Governments are called upon to implement transformative development strategies that enable their people, especially the children, to enjoy their rights and realize their full potential,” he added.

Ledoux continued that while many of the children regard themselves as important contributors to the welfare of their families and feel some pride of that contribution, “many feel resentful or angry at the situation that has forced them to leave schools, and feel that there is little to look forward to in their own lives that will distinguish their future from that of their parents.”

Ledoux said the continued existence of child labor should prod the government, civil society groups and all stakeholders to pursue their efforts to end the situation.

“It means ensuring development does not just equate to impressive stats, but something that produces concrete positive results for the children of the world, something that enables them to claim their rights,” he said. –Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com