ILO exec tells Aquino: ‘Walk the talk’ in solving unemployment, child labor

The country head of the International Labor Organization (ILO) said the Aquino administration needs to “walk the talk” by translating the 7.5-percent economic growth into decent jobs that could improve the situation of millions in vulnerable employment and who are unable to lift themselves from the quagmire of poverty.

ILO Country Representative to the Philippines Lawrence Jeff Johnson said “the question is not the level of economic growth achieved but how we achieved this growth.”

“You can have a growth of more than 7 percent through large-scale mining activities but not based on people whose lives have improved in terms of decent jobs and livelihood,” Johnson said in an interview with the BusinessMirror at the launch of the Red Card for Child Labour in Taguig City.

He said the Philippine government should now focus on inclusive economic growth where the country’s work force have access to decent wages, social protection and enjoy tripartite dialogue with the government and employers.

The ILO chief said the Philippines still has to address the increasing number of minors engaged in the worst forms of child labor, whose number is now pegged at 3 million, out of the country’s 5 million child workers. They are engaged Internet pornography, slavery and forced labor, as well as those in trapped in conflict and forced to work as child soldiers and arms couriers.

“Natural and economic disasters push young people to work. We need to engage governments in protecting the rights of families to social protection such as livelihood assistance to avoid the traps of child labor,” Johnson said. –Estrella Torres, Businessmirror