A labor group on Thursday blasts the Aquino administration for its failure to curb the proliferation of child labor problem in the country.
Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-NAGKAISA (TUCP-NAGKAISA), said the total number of child laborers has reached to more than 5.5 million as of 2014.
Child laborers are referred to as children, who, at the tender age of 5-17 years, started working for a particular employer in a specific period of time.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) noted that in every ten working children, six were boys while four were girls.
PSA data revealed that 46.7 percent of the total child workers belong to the 15-17 year-old bracket, while 45.1 percent were 10-14 years old, and 8.2 percent were 5-9 years of age.
Under the Philippine Anti-Child Labor law, the children are not allowed to work due to their young age. But, they are forced to work due to massive poverty, said Tanjusay, which sets aside the Anti-Child Labor laws.
He added that the huge total number of child workers was sufficient basis to describe the Aquino administration as “benign” in addressing the problem.
“Right now, we consider the government effort to curb [the problem on] child laborers as benign. The government is not serious. Hindi targeted,” averred Tanjusay.
He said the government, through the collective efforts of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), are necessary to concretely addressing the problem now.
He said “it is high time for the DOLE and DSWD to dedicate common focus in creating a national program and strategy towards minimizing the number of child laborers in the country.”
Tanjusay pointed out that there is a need for the government to carry out a serious program or strategy, in order to decisively reduce the number of children who are forced to work by 250,000 every year. - Nelson S. Badilla / The Manila Times
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