SOME 7,730 children (or 73%) of 10, 584 children profiled in 2022 by the Department of Labor and Employment-Regional Office 1 (DOLE RO1), were found to be engaged in child labor.

This was contained in a report of DOLE RO1 in observance of the World Day Against Child Labor last June 12, reported its efforts against child labor (CL).

DOLE Regional Director Exequiel Ronie Guzman said the identified child laborers were immediately referred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education and Local Government Units (LGUs) for the needed support.

A number of parents of the child laborers were also given livelihood assistance, through the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program. They were awarded livelihood starter kits and regularly monitored by DOLE Field Offices to ensure that their livelihood projects are sustained and generate income for their families.

“As we encourage their parents and families to bring their children out from child labor, it is also important that we provide them necessary assistance to empower them economically, as poverty remains to be the primary reason why these children are forced to engage in laborious and sometimes hazardous kinds of work,” Guzman said.

Most of the profiled child laborers are from the western and eastern towns of Pangasinan, where they were tapped to work in back-breaking agricultural tasks while others were working in construction sites and retail establishments.

The regional office continues to promote the emancipation of children from the binds of hazardous and exploitative labor under DOLE’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP). (Eva Visperas)

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