Eighteen government agencies took part in signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)in connection with the 27th National Children’s Month celebration held last November 19, 2019 at the Diamond Jubilee Hall, Iloilo City.
The event themed “Karapatang Pambata: Patuloy na Pahalagahan at Gampanan Tungo sa Magandang Kinabukasan” was spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 6.
The MOA is for the incorporation of the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Labor as part of the collective efforts of the government in its program “Makiisa para sa #1MBatangMalaya”, which aims to combat child labor in the country.
The program aims to free 1 million children from all forms of child labor by 2025.
DOLE-6 Regional Director Cyril L. Ticao emphasized the importance of even little efforts to curb child labor.
“I believe we are here today because we know that we are part of something great. We are here because we want to see this nation soar high waving past beyond change and our differences,” he said.
The signatories of the MOAwere representatives of the Commission on Higher Education, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, National Bureau of Investigation, National Housing Authority, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Public Attorney’s Office, Police Regional Office 6, Philippine Statistics Authority, Social Security System, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Through the agreement, the signatories are mandated to provide programs and servicesto profiled child laborers and their families.
It also calls for the implementation of a sustainable and responsive convergence program to address child labor in the region by providing focused, converged, and synchronized strategies.
Expanding the number of agencies the DOLE will tap assistance inthe effort to withdraw children from child labor.
Under the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP) of the DOLE, one of the current inter-agency mechanisms is the Sagip Batang Manggagawa (SBM) which aims to respond to cases of child laborers in extremely abject conditions.
Based on a 2011 Survey on Children by the Philippine Statistics Office, the Philippines has over 2.1 million child laborers aged 5-17 years old.
Some 95 percent child laborers are in hazardous work whichis defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) as likely to harm the health, safety, and morals of children.
The common examples of hazardous work are agriculture, fisheries, mining, construction, manufacturing, service industries, and domestic service.
The industry with the most number of child laborers was in the agricultural sector at 58 percent, followed by those under domestic service (35 percent) while the industrial sector has 7 percent.
