Child labor in Visayas alarming –

DoLE director
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BY EUGENE Y. ADIONG ON FEBRUARY 15, 2018REGIONS

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BACOLOD CITY: The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in Western Visayas (WV) said
the state of child labor in the region is “alarming” that it is conducting surveillance to rescue the
victims and provide them assistance.

Johnson Cañete, labor regional director, said most of the child laborers in the region are doing
dangerous work in the sugarcane fields, mines and fireworks industry.

Cañete, however, pointed out that Region 6 is mostly agricultural land and “it cannot be discounted
that children work in the field because of poverty and in our culture children are often brought by
their parents to work,” he said.

Cañete said Region 6—with 171,744 people as of 2011 is No. 4 on the list of provinces with the
most number of child laborers.

Region 4-A or the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces topped the list followed by
Central Luzon and Soccsksargen or South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani and
General Santos.

This year the DoLE regional office will verify the total number of child laborers in WV as part of the
DoLE’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program Bring Home a Child Laborer Project.

If proven true, the DoLE will exercise its visitorial powers and rescue the children. Charges will then
be filed and fines collected from the employers before the victim is turned over to his family.

The DoLE will provide assistance such as free course training in any of the technical and vocational
courses of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority while the Department of Social
Welfare and Development will provide seminars on good parenting for the education of parents.

But transporting a child after the rescue often poses a problem among authorities as it costs them a
lot, most especially when a child has to be escorted home to ensure that he will not go anywhere
again, Cañete said.

Last Tuesday, he signed a memorandum of agreement with Vallacar Transit Inc. that will provide
free transportation to rescued child laborers in the region.

Vallacar operates Ceres Liner, the biggest bus company in the Visayas.