DOLE 7 grants fishing livelihood aid to Danao residents

PARENTS of the profiled child laborers in Danao City, Cebu will soon have their own pump boats for fishing after the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE 7) released a livelihood assistance worth P600,000.

The beneficiaries are the 21 parents of the profiled child laborers in Sitio Pagutlan-Isla Verde, a manmade island located in Barangay Dunggoan.

Each beneficiary will receive their own pump boats with engine and fishing nets, which are expected to augment their income as most of them rely on fishing as the primary source of income.

Identified as one of the poorest of the poor areas in Danao City, it is a common sight in Sitio Pagutlan-Isla Verde that children aged 15 to 17 years old regularly fish for a living from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

To help alleviate the plight of the children and allow them to grow in a safe environment, the DOLE 7 partnered with the Danao City Cooperative and the Danao City Government in the advocacy of preventing and eliminating child labor in the area by providing families of child laborers access to decent livelihood opportunities for enhanced income.

Acting as the proponent in the implementation of the project of the beneficiaries, the Danao City Cooperative will work hand in hand with the DOLE 7 in providing them capacity and capability building activities and in making sure that their project is effectively and efficiently executed.

As beneficiaries of the DOLE 7’s livelihood program, these parents are expected to also commit to take active participation in group activities including social preparation, trainings and actual project implementation. Some of the trainings to be given will include simple bookkeeping, project management seminar and orientations on health, safety and productivity.

With most of the said beneficiares receiving P30,000 worth of fishing implements as part of their livelihood assistance, they are expected to demonstrate willingness to remove or not engage their children in hazardous or exploitative labor.

Under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, families of child laborers are provided with decent livelihood opportunities hoping to help them obtain enhanced income as well as prevent and eventually eliminate the incidence of child labor in their are.