Filtered By: Topstories
News

Duterte orders intensified efforts vs. child labor


President Rodrigo Duterte has directed government agencies to intensify efforts in eliminating child labor and its worst form.

Duterte signed on September 17 Executive Order 92 which created the National Council Against Child Labor.

The council will be headed by the Labor Secretary with the Social Welfare Secretary as vice chairperson.

Its members include the secretaries of Education, Health, Interior and Local Government, Justice, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, as well as the heads of the National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Council for the Welfare of Children, National Youth Commission and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

The other members are the National Statistician, Philippine National Police chief, National Bureau of Investigation director, National Anti-Poverty Commission sectoral representative (children) and two representatives each from the workers sector, employers sector, and non-government organizations with programs on child labor.

The council is mandated to formulate a national action plan for the effective enforcement of the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (Republic Act 7610), and coordinate and oversee the implementation of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor.

The body is tasked to establish child-appropriate mechanisms, including the conduct of capacity building activities for child laborers, their families and communities and monitor the status of cases against individuals, agencies, institutions or establishments that violate the provisions of laws on child labor.

The council must also establish and disseminate a mechanism by which the general public can easily report child labor incidence to government authorities.

The EO directs the council to submit semi-annual reports to the Executive Secretary on its operations and accomplishments regarding the prevention and elimination of child labor.

“[T]here is an urgent need to amplify government efforts for the protection of the rights of vulnerable sectors, especially the children, strengthen related institutional mechanisms and establish further measures that will contribute to the prevention, reduction and elimination of any form of child labor,” the order stated.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Duterte administration aims to reduce the cases of child labor by 30 percent or 630,000 from the estimated 2.1 million child laborers nationwide under the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.

Last July, the DOLE said it had already profiled 85,582 child laborers in 16 regions of which 18,651 were referred to appropriate agencies for the provision of services and assistance needed by the children and their families. — MDM, GMA News

Tags: childlabor
LOADING CONTENT