(Composite image of different kinds of child labor from AFP photos)
MANILA, Philippines — The National Council Against Child Labor (NCACL) has recorded more than 600,000 thousand child laborers in the country in the last four years.
Specifically, the council says it has profiled 620,566 child laborers since it was formed in 2019.
“Children should not be workers, but (they) should, instead, be in schools,” lamented Department of Labor and Employment undersecretary Benjo Benavidez on Thursday.
“Naniniwala ang DOLE na ang mga bata ay nasa paaralan at wala sa lansangan at mga pagawaan,” he said.
(DOLE believes children should be in schools, not the streets or workplaces.)
“Dapat po sila ay malaya, hindi mga manggagawa,” he stressed.
(They should be free. They should not be workers.)
On its anniversary, NCACL gave livelihood assistance to the parents of 100 child laborers in Quezon City.
It also distributed school supplies and disaster preparedness kits.
The aid is under the Integrated Livelihood Program of DOLE.
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