ILO cites RP efforts in curbing child labor

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has cited the Philippines for making progress in combating child labor during the recently concluded summit of Asian labor and employment ministers in Busan, South Korea.

The ILO said the Philippines, along with Cambodia, Mongolia, Indonesia and Viet Nam had set “concrete deadlines” to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

Tripartite delegates from the Philippines and 11 other East and Southeast Asian countries last met in July in Jakarta to list priorities for action against child labor.

These include increasing efforts to combat poverty and expand education, allocating more money to combat child labor, setting national targets to end the worst forms of child labor as soon as possible, paying attention to vulnerable groups such as minorities and migrants, and completing the ratification of the ILO fundamental conventions.

Latest figures from the Department of Labor and Employment showed that there were about 2,128 million children aged 5 to 17 who were working in the country. Most worked in the agriculture sector and those who are wage-earners were paid about P100 a day.

Decent work. The Busan summit, which ended Friday (1 September), focused on realizing decent work in Asia. The ILO said child labor was clearly linked to efforts to promote decent work.

"By its very nature, [child labor] deprives children and young people of the preparation they need to obtain safe and productive work once they have reached employment age, while also depriving adults of the opportunity for decent work," it said.

According to the ILO, political commitment to reduce poverty and expand free and quality education has an important bearing on the elimination of child labor.

The government last conducted a nationwide survey on child labor in 2001.

Based on various Labor Force Surveys conducted last year, the DOLE’s Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics said about 8.4 percent of the country’s 25 million children were working.

More than half (1.2 million) are 15-17 years old and nearly two-thirds are male. Most (about 845,000) are elementary undergraduates.

About a fourth (545,000) are found in the less developed regions of Northern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas.

Skilled workers . More than half of all child workers work in agriculture and forestry. More than two-thirds are employed as laborers and unskilled workers with an average daily wage of P100.

Six out of 10 work for their families but are not paid. Half have jobs that are permanent, or with fixed salary and lasting a year or more.

In job categories with possible work hazards, about 134,000 work in the fishing industry, 110,000 in manufacturing, 25,000 in construction and 9,000 in mining and quarrying.

Child workers normally work for as long as 7 hours a day but their average hours of work per week were only 26 hours. Children employed in private households – about 177,000, most of them helpers – worked the longest at 9 hours a day or 60 hours a week. They are also paid the cheapest (around P84 per day). – by Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, A4, 3 September 2006.