Child labor remains

By KARINA V. CANEDO, Sunstar.com, June 10, 2016, http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2016/06/10/child-labor-remains-478879

HOW sure are you that the clothes you wear and the food that you buy from grocery stores are not products of child labor?

This was the challenge relayed to different members of the academe and companies who attended Friday’s culmination of World Child Day against Child Labor at the Ritz Hotel Davao City.

Cesar Giovanni Soledad, project manager of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce Child Labor (Clear) said, “In the Philippines, 80 percent gold is not produced by the big mining companies but small scale companies. Your gold could be made and produced by children.”

Soledad said there are subtle ways that consumers or the public, have in a way, perpetuated child labor by merely buying their favorite brands of clothing or food.

Soledad cited that because of globalization consumers do not know where the products they consume originate.

He cited as example known chocolate companies that were found to get majority of their cacao supply from child laborers of Africa.

He also pointed out that the fashion industry might also be the same.

“In Fashion industry though, wala sa establishment itself but down, down the line where the materials are sourced from in some way mabahiran siya (it can be tainted with child labor),” Soledad said.

Department of Labor and Employment-Davao Regional Director lawyer Joffrey Suyao said that based on the findings of the survey conducted by the National Statistics Office commissioned by ILO in 2011, there are around 114,000 child laborers all over the region and these were mainly found in the non-formal sector of agriculture.

Suyao also said that several initiatives were done by different councils per commodity widely produced in the region such as banana and sugarcane to ensure that their products are child labor free.

“We have our banana tripartite council, wherein members of labor organizations, and employers’ organizations in the government supported our campaign and came up with a resolution condemning child labor and supporting programs against child labor,” Suyao said.

He also said that non-observance of the companies on this rule is also a risk to its reputation because some countries block products once they learned that it came from child labor.

Thus, for an industry to prosper in the global market that is now becoming strict against child labor and slavery, the industry must police its own ranks.

A similar tripartite council has also been formed for the sugar industry.

But there is no such council yet for the mining industry, specifically the small-scale mining in the region, although Dole Davao Region is coordinating with local government units in mining areas.

Suyao said that cooperation of the private sector is really needed to participate in the campaign.

“We are now going to the supply chains. We are not just concentrating our campaign on our establishments itself kung dili sa supply chains nila. So that is why we have invited different industries here in our region to participate,” he said.

He also encouraged barangays to activate their council for the protection of children, and consider child labor to be part of its primary advocacies.

He also said that the HELP ME convergence program involving different national government agencies and spearheaded by Dole, intended to reduce if not eliminate child labor, is still ongoing and “World Day Against Child Labor” is one of its activities.

While ensuring the trickling down of the message to the barangays will involve talking to barangay councils, he added.