Eskwelahan sa Kalye: Making parents aware of child labor “
In conflicts and disasters, protect children from child labor” – was the theme of this year’s World Day Against Child Labor celebrated last June 12.
Kaugmaon Center for Children’s Concern, as part of their advocacy, went to different identified communities especially in Barangay Tibungco to underscore to the parents the need to be aware of the issue of child labor.
Former Child laborers from Kaugmaon Center for Children's Concerns Foundation on June 12 led the “Eskwelahan sa Kalye” program which aimed to educate parents and children about prevailing issues of child labor in the communities.
Andrea Amogod and Romelyn “Tutay” Cabañes were chosen as master of ceremonies for the event.
The event was held in Tibungco where fun games, school supplies distribution, free food, and merriment flooded the portion of the street where the audience also stood to listen to lectures on child labor.
Amogod, in an interview with Sun.Star, said during the “Eskwelahan sa Kalye" that children and parents were informed of the three main reasons why child labor prevails.
She elaborated that the three main reasons of child labor is poverty, culture, and third is the weak implementation of the laws which cover child labor.
“The problem is the poverty of each family which leads to lack of support for education. Many
parents really do not earn enough, which is the reason why the children want to work because they also want to earn,” she said.
Meanwhile, Romelyn “Tutay” Cabañes said there are still many parents who are not aware of child labor.
“There are those who do not know that children should not do hazardous tasks. For a long time they do not even know that children should not be allowed to carry heavy things that may cause them body pain,” she said.
“These parents do not know that they cannot have focus in their school because of the body pains they get through working,” she said.
She added that some also cannot concentrate in school because of lack of sleep and weariness from the job.
“Na-experience nako na siya kay mao man na ang akong nabati sa una (I have experienced all that and that is what I felt before),” Cabañes said.
She was born to parents who were into scavenging.
“I was once a scavenger, one of the hazardous forms of labor, we have reached many places like Obrero, Panacan, Bunawan, Panabo, sometimes in Bajada,” she said.
Poverty also caused Dodoy (name withheld), 11, to enter scavenging because of his father.
He was 8 years old when he started but later once he got aware of his right he decided to stop.
Dodoy admitted that the job was very risky.
“Ma-feel jud nako kapoy, baho pajud naay mga ulod diha, tapos gunitan nimo (I can really feel the exhaustion, and the stink. Sometimes there are also worms in the garbage, and you will handle it),” the young boy said.
He added that he decided not to accompany his father anymore with the information he got on child labor.
Adam (name withheld), 15, another child labor victim, said he experienced working in a construction site which is illegal for a minor like him.
He said with that job, they carry cement as heavy as 50 kilograms but earn as much as P1,800 weekly, which he mostly gives to his mother who is a ‘kakanin’ vendor.
Adam said he has five more siblings and his father cannot go to work due to sickness.
He added that working in the construction site is hard and entry to such job is based on the construction in-charge.
“Usahay mu-ingon ang in-charge na underage biya mo, basin kasuhan ta ninyo, muingon lang sad mi nga sir, sige na sir walang-wala jud mi sir (Sometimes the incharge will say that “You are underage, we may face charges because of you” and then we will beg them saying “Sir, kindly accept us. We really need the job),” Adam said.
Cabañes said four of them, including Dodoy and Adam, were invited to talk about the same scenario before the crowd of stakeholders invited by the International Labor Organization last June 17.
Florie May B. Tacang, executive director of Kaugmaon, in an interview with Sun.Star, said that their advocacy continues by not only doing Eskwelahan sa Kalye but also in coordinating with other groups to celebrate the World Day Against Child Labor with other agencies.
Last June 15, Tutay, Andrea, Dodoy, and Adam are among the performers of the first Help Me Convergence Caravan held in Barangay New Bataan, Davao Oriental.
The Department of Labor and Employment Region 11, in an interview with Sun.Star, said the Help Me Convergence of various government services centering on child protection sought to provide 162 parents and 163 children participants.
‘HELP ME’ stands for the following: H – for health services and medical assistance; E – for education and training; L – for livelihood opportunities to parents of child laborers; P – for prevention, protection and prosecution; M – for monitoring; and E – for evaluation.
Dole 11 said the caravan, which included distribution of medicines, hygiene kits, school supplies, consultation on legal matters, seeds/ seedlings for backyard gardening, food packs and scholarships, was conducted in the area in connection to this year’s theme for the World Day Against Child Labor Theme.
The theme is about protection of children from child labor in conflict and disaster.
Tacang said the Kaugmaon is supportive of the inter-agency move as they expect that a high number of child laborers are to be expected in the rehabilitation of Marawi, Lanao del Sur, which was heavily damaged due to the war between the government troops and terrorists.
“Marawi conflict, possibly after ana daghan nga mga bata ma-force ug trabaho (With the Marawi conflict, many children may possibly be forced to work after that),” she said.
Tacang said they saw this trend among calamity stricken areas that were hit by Typhoon Yolanda which struck the country in November 2013.
Based on reports, the International Labor Organization, in a joint assessment made in March and April 2014 by the UN and other humanitarian organizations and Philippine authorities, showed 54 percent of 112 surveyed villages reported that children there were involved in harsh and dangerous labor, with 39 percent of them saying that the number of such children increased after the typhoon struck.
While an increase of child laborers is feared, Alamas expressed concern over the implementation of curfew during Martial Law which affects normal child laborers.
Based on the latest data, some 400 minors in Davao Region have been identified as child laborers based on profiling of vulnerable workers by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole)-Davao in 2015.
Based on the same report, Melanie Jadulang, labor and employment officer, said the survey only covered 25 identified barangays in the region that were hit by disaster and have high rates of informal sector workers.
In the Survey on Children (SOC) by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in 2011, about 3.028 million were engaged in child labor out of the 29.019 million population of the 5-17 years old.
Of the 29.019 million population, Dole-11 said that 114,000 children were identified as child laborers in Davao Region. He added that most child laborers occur in the informal sector.