Child Labor

Their parents lost jobs in massive layoffs The global financial crisis is expected to push a huge number of children, particularly girls, to drop out of school and become laborers, according to a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) released Monday.

Brussels, 12 June 2009 (ITUC OnLine): Millions of children, especially girls, risk falling out of education and into work as the impact of the world economic crisis deepens, the ITUC has warned today, the World Day Against Child Labour.

Over 18,000 girls and boys are engaged in mining and quarrying in the Philippines. For many generations, the search for gold in small-scale mining has been a means of survival for poor families. Girls in such work are particularly vulnerable.

More than 100 million girls are involved in child labour worldwide, according to a new ILO report for World Day against Child Labour 2009. The report warns that the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children, particularly girls, into child labour. ILO Online reports from Moscow where migrant workers and their children…

VIRAC, Catanduanes: Each day starts early for Aiza, her sister Angeline and their mother Emily.

AFTER a decade of one of the largest social reform movements ever seen, the end of child labor is now within grasp.

THEY are called “Shine Girls” in Davao. Batang tun-og or “children of the evening dew” in General Santos. “Vitamin C” in Cagayan de Oro.

“PROSTITUTION” to pay for school fees is just one of the many guises of children in the Philippine flesh trade.

“The government is committed to reduce and finally eradicate the incidence of child labor,” Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque told The Manila Times. “Most of the country’s child labor arises from poverty in the countryside. That is why we launched last year our four-year project to help indigent parents send their children to school.”

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipino children nationwide face the prospect of leaving school and working at a young age due to the prevailing global economic crisis, the International Labor Organization (ILO) warned yesterday.

MARIVELES, Bataan: Police rescued three minors and seven others who were allegedly sweet-talked into working at a construction site in Balanga City but ended in Calauag, Quezon Province and reportedly forced to work without proper and just compensation, Mayor Jessie Concepcion of Mariveles announced Tuesday.

BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental policemen rescued on Monday five minors from Antique working as sacada (sugar farm workers) in Murcia, provincial police director Senior Supt. Manuel Felix said.

CHIEF Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stressed that he will bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious crimes.

16-year-old combatant was taken into custody by the provincial welfare and development office MAITUM, Sarangani: Pursuing soldiers captured a child warrior of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who has been wounded in the recent firefight.

The United States Department of Labor has awarded a Filipina with the first annual Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor.

SINGAPORE – Asia must act quickly to prevent millions of children dropping out of school to go to work as the global economic crisis worsens, a rights expert has warned.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has partnered with World Vision Development Fund (WVDF) for the training of public school teachers on anti-child exploitation advocacy.

The Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group has agreed to stop recruiting child soldiers and return those in its ranks to civilian life, a United Nations official said Friday.

THE United Nations and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will start next year their talks on an action plan to stop the recruitment of children as soldiers. Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, revealed this yesterday during a press conference in Ortigas, Pasig City.

The United Nations has lauded the Philippine government for implementing its unique program of protecting children in conflict areas.

A ranking United Nations official said yesterday the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has committed to stop its practice of recruiting and using children in combat operations.

More high school graduates are now opting to work rather than pursue higher education, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Children rights advocates in the country will submit reports of child rights violations committed by the Arroyo administration to visiting United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy.

A New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla, who was earlier captured by military forces in Quezon province, admitted that they recruited the 15-year-old boy whose family had reported missing.

The Manila City Prosecutor’s Office has filed criminal charges before the Manila Regional Trial Court yesterday against a 34-year-old woman for inducing female minors to solicit sex.

Two bar operators in Daraga, Albay were sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for trafficking minors for sexual exploitation. One is the owner and the other is the cashier. They were also made to pay P1 million each in fine.

The massive dislocation of families due to the raging armed conflict in Mindanao has spurred the trafficking of children, Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza of Cotabato warned Sunday. “A growing number of young girls and boys whose families have been displaced by constant armed strife have become extremely vulnerable to trafficking by illegal job recruiters and all…

Malacañang aims to bring before the United Nations the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) recruitment of children as fighters. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government has photographs to show that the MILF is using children in combat. The photographs were seized by troops from captured MILF camps, he added.

THIRTEEN girls aged 13 to 15 and recruited in Quezon City ended up being sold as prostitutes at P600 each to fishermen in Infanta, Quezon. The victims are out-of-school youths and residents of Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed the Department of Education to step measures to end child labor and bring back these children to school. “The role of children is to study, learn and play, not to earn a living at their tender age.” President Arroyo pointed out. “I am therefore pleased that DepEd is working with…