THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has intensified its child labor monitoring as it aims to eradicate the child labor problem in the next five years.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on Thursday said the department has placed eradicating child labor on top of its priority through continuous monitoring of profiled child laborers in every province and region where there is a prevalence of minor workers.

He said one of the strategic ways adopted by the DoLE is the profiling of child laborers to assess their needs and refer the children and their families to appropriate agencies and organizations for assistance.

According to the Special Release on Working Children Situation for 2019 to 2021 published by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), there were 1.37 million working children, 935,000 of whom were engaged in child labor.

The report revealed that Central Visayas has the second-highest incidence rate of child labor at 10 percent or around 93,500. It has also the third highest incidence rate of working children ages 5 to 17 years old at 8.7 percent.

He added that among those being closely monitored is Negros Oriental because of the prevalence of child laborers. Based on the latest report from the Negros Oriental Field Office, they were able to interview and monitor 239 child laborers and their parents in Bayawan City, Basay, La Libertad, and Guihulngan.

DoLE-7 Regional Director Lilia Estillore said the monitoring is necessary to track the status of the profiled children to ensure that their needs are met through the implementation of the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP).

Under Republic Act (RA) 9231, child labor refers to any work performed by a child under 18 years old that subjects him/her to any form of exploitation or is harmful to his/her health and safety or physical, mental, or psychological development. This deprives children of their childhood, potential, and their dignity.

The PSA also identified the agriculture sector as the top industry with the most child laborers and tagged Northern Mindanao with the highest child labor incidence.

With the increased number of child laborers, Laguesma said, the DoLE doubled its efforts in monitoring profiled child laborers to facilitate their removal from child labor. “The Marcos administration remains steadfast in prioritizing the elimination of child labor in the country. Under Chapter 3 of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the target for the indicator number of child laborers is zero,” Laguesma said.

Aside from the continuous push for anti-child labor campaigns, the department, as the National Council Against Child Labor (NCACL) head, leads the development of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL) Strategic Framework covering the period 20232028. The PPACL works to transform the lives of child laborers, their families, and communities toward their sense of self-worth, empowerment, and development. It has also been working towards preventing and progressively eliminating child labor through protection, withdrawal, healing, and reintegration of child workers into a caring society. It supports the alleviation of extreme poverty, which has been the leading cause of child labor in the country.

Laguesma said the DoLE also extends services to profiled child laborers as a contribution to the PPACL.

“The DoLE has been implementing the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program that provides services to them and their families through direct intervention or referral to appropriate agencies and organizations,” he said.

From 2018-2022, the DoLE has profiled 620,556 child laborers, referred 614,066 to appropriate agencies and organizations, provided 138,460 essential services, and withdrawn 148,248 from child labor. For 2023, the DoLE will prioritize monitoring 160,288 child laborers profiled in 2022. Laguesma vowed that the department would continue to conduct advocacy activities using quad-media platforms to raise awareness and gather support in the campaign against child labor, strengthen the capacity of DoLE Regional Offices and labor inspectors, social partners, and other stakeholders at the national and local levels.

Laguesma said that the labor department will continue to issue Working Child Permits to children below 15 years of age that fall under the exceptions to the prohibition provided under RA 9231, enforce anti-child labor laws in workplaces through the Labor Inspection Program, profile child laborers to locate and identify children engaged in child labor, rescue child laborers through Sagip Batang Manggagawa and other similar mechanisms, and help profiled child laborers and their families, especially with livelihood assistance, to facilitate the removal of children from child labor.