Child Labour: The Unending Deprivation of Childhood and

Filipinos' Reaction Towards It

Research Question
What causes child labor and how do the 21st century Filipinos think of it?

Hook
58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys
appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-
reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.

Literature Review
1. According to ChildFund Philippines, the main idea about this subject is poverty being the root cause of
child labour.

1. fact- Children are often forced to work long hours with few breaks, which takes a toll
on their physical development to gain additional income.
2. fact- For the same reason, young boys and teenagers are frequently obliged to
descend into muddy trenches in a process known as compression mining.

In conclusion, ChildFund Philippines says that child labor is rampant in agricultural industry as
they have a lower source of income and it is needed to stop child labour by addressing the problems that
lead to it.

2. Another idea by, Nina Larson and Agence France-Presse (June 10, 2021), is that the pandemic is
pushing many families' financial status to the hilt and plunging them into poverty.

1. fact- The number of child labor cases in the whole world arises at the start of 2020,
having 160 million or an increase of 8.4 million in four years.
2. fact- 79 million children reportedly performed unsafe jobs in early 2020.
3. fact- Further economic and academic shocks due to COVID-19 crisis causes children
already in child labor to work longer hours and under deteriorating
circumstances.
4. fact- As the COVID-19 crisis began to escalate, almost one in ten children in the
world was caught up in child labour.
5. fact- A second year of the pandemic's ramification will and continue to force families
into making heart-breaking choices of pushing their child into prior work.

In conclusion, Nina Larson and Agence France-Presse says the increasing cases of child labor
due to the pandemic, serves as a wake up call to put renewed energy into eradicating child labor and
poverty.

3. A third writer, Giancarlo Morrondoz of UPLB Perspective (June 12, 2021) states that children under
child labor should not be held up as models of filial piety and hard work.

1. fact- "Children are more susceptible to economic exploitation."

2. fact- Compared to other sectors of society, children are the epitome of innocence
 and are individuals who require additional protection.
3. fact- Children are individuals who have their rights to education and they must be
using their time in school to gain knowledge for their future.

The third author concludes that the movies and stories we've grown up listening to and watching
doesn't always depict the reality of who the saviors are. Children are the ones supposed to leave first in a
sinking ship but in how humanity is right now, they aren't who they're presumed to be.

4. A fourth source, Purple Romero (July 22, 2013), states that child labor isn't always abusive but can be
a cultural tradition or a desire of the worker to earn their own money.

1. fact- Filipinos have centuries-old tradition indicating that a child must work in unity
with their family (commonly in farms and small stores) in order to help lighten
their financial burden.
2. fact- Filipinos really do value having fair and equal responsibilities and being helpful.
3. fact- Not abusive child labor actually teaches a child that there are other ways to earn
money other than stealing and committing crimes.
4. fact- Children who aren't financially stable usually work to provide additional money
for the tuition fee of the courses they desire to learn in the future.

This author concludes that child labor victims can be children who work out of their own ambition
and not because of abuse.

5. Yet, another idea from , Giancarlo Morrondoz of UPLB Perspective (June 12, 2021), is that child labor
happens due to the rising numbers of an adult's or a perpetrator's sexual desire which puts a vulnerable
child into impotence.

1. fact- The demand for child abuse materials has increased significantly, particularly
during the pandemic.
2. fact- One of the primary drivers of this market is foreign demand.
3. fact- Child sexual exploitation on the internet thrives on quarantined predators  and
an enormous amount of people destitute enough to rely on child
commercialization.

This author concludes that sexual exploitation of children reflects an inept government and a
history of imperialism in our country that we seem eager to promote. He also stated that the government
allows these industries to thrive in the same way that it allows foreigners to bully us using our own
resources as threat illustrating the thirst of government to resurrect the economy through other means,
leaving our citizens hungry.

Analysis
I found 5 main ideas about Child Labour and Filipinos' Reaction Towards It.

1. Poverty being the root cause of child labour.

2. Pandemic as further cause of poverty that leads families to resort to child labour.
3. Child labour victims not as models of filial piety and hard work.
4. Child labour as a cultural tradition and desire of the worker to earn their own money
5. Child labour due to the rising numbers of an adult's or a perpetrator's sexual desire which puts a
vulnerable child into impotence.
 This indicates that the main cause of child labour is due to financial reasons or poverty itself. A
force given by the situations they are living at that pushes them to resort to a may or may not be
appealing conducts. This puts the public into an argument of perspectives.

Original Research
In order to test the ideas about Child Labour and Filipinos' Reaction Towards It, this researcher
will conduct a survey and interview.
Results:

Question: What do you think is the root of this problem?

*100% of the 20 respondents answered poverty.

Question: Have you ever experienced working as a child (that prevented you from living your youth and
rights to the fullest)?
*4 or 20% of the 20 respondents have while 16 or 80% haven't.

Question: How do you see Filipinos address this kind of problem in social media?
Most common answers:
*Some helped the victims
*Some sees this issue as a joke not knowing the suffering of the victims
* I saw one of their opinion in a post about Reymark's situation (a 11 year old child
who's a victim of child labor) which is the "ito ang tunay na mulat sa reyalidad" It is just like
they are tolerating child labor and it looks like they don't even understand what child labor is, and just
using this kind of issues to gain many likes for their posts.

Question: What are your opinions about this problem? Are you okay with its existence?
*All respondents said no.
Most common answers:
-Child labor must stop. Their guardians are the ones that need to
work hard to be able to give their child the best life that they need.
-I hope this issue will be prioritize by the government and must be solved
immediately.
-It's sad. Children deserve to live in their fullest, children deserve to be happy
and to enjoy every moment of their life and not to embrace the hard life.
Question: What do you think is the best possible solution to it?
Most common answers
* Have a better family planning
*Charity programs could help and posting more awareness about this issue
should be done.
*Support and projects from government
*Deflation
*More job opportunities
*Eradicate corruption and fix the national issue about drugs

Conclusion
The most likely explanation seems to be that the poverty is the root of child labour. And, this
poverty have many branches that divides different problems to bear a fruit of child labour. To address
this issue, many Filipinos find it sad for such issues to exist but they also confessed that they do not
have the power to do anything else but share awareness to lessen the cases of it. There are also those
who do not care and those tolerate and romanticize such issues. I, on the other hand, want to prevent
the abusive child labor but also want children of new generation to have their choice and gain their
freedom in working if they desire to do so, without other people's influence or external force.

References
-ILO, Global Estimates of Child Labour:Results and trends, 2012-2016, Retrieved:June 14, 2021
-Child Fund Philippines "Unseen Workers: Child Labor in the Philippines", Retrieved: June 10,
2021, from https://www.childfund.org/child-labor-in-the-philippines/?no&fbclid=
IwAR20BaEyrkoKFN-CJ9LkI4PvKeIRzCO4UBO2CNWNEfXsfkorBx6LDTtbPzY
-Morrondoz, G. (June 12, 2021), "The perfect crime: How the state robs our youth through
oppression and exploitative child labor", Retrieved: June 12, 2021, from https://uplbperspective.org/
2021/06/12/the-perfect-crime-how-the-state-robs-our-youth-through-oppression-and-exploitative-child-
labor/?fbclid=IwAR1CaVlWzFY8rXziQ-dlfXo0NCGVYKbSeKE2WY6FqQJZfaiP2Ab3eFKEyRw
-Larson, N.& France-Presse, A. (June 10, 2021), "Child labor swells for first time in two
decades: UN" Retrieved: June 12, 2021, from https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/10/21/child-labor-
swells-un-two-decades
-Romero, P. (July 22, 2013), "The Philippines Asks, Is Child Labor Abusive or a Cultural
Tradition?" Retrieved: June 12, 2021, from https://nextcity.org/informalcity/entry/the-philippines-asks-is-
child-labor-abusive-or-a-cultural-tradition