DOLE declares 6 Negros Oriental barangays free of child labor

Six barangays in Negros Oriental have been declared "child labor-free (CLF)," bringing the number of such barangays to eight since 2014.

 

The Department of Labor and Employment said the six new CLF barangays include Poblacion in Santa Catalina, Taboan in Bayawan City, Napakaw in Siaton, Pal-ew in Tanjay City, Abis in Mabinay, and Alanginlanan in Manjuyod.

 

In 2014, barangays Canggohob and Manlingay in Mabinay were declared child labor-free.

 

But Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz instructed the Labor Department's Central Visayas office to sustain such efforts.

 

“The efforts emanating from the grassroots level must be sustained, because the assurance what we will be ultimately a child labor-free country rests in the local government units," she said.

 

DOLE Regional Office 7 OIC Ezequiel Sarcauga led the awarding of Child Labor-Free Barangay certificates at the 13th World Day against Child Labor in Dumaguete City.

 

“Child labor is a world problem. We at the DOLE have been consistently carrying out several programs to address this global dilemma,” Sarcauga said.

 

He said the 2011 National Statistics Office (NSO) survey showed some 3.3 million children in the country are engaged in child labor.

 

In Region 7, he said some 219,000 have been identified as child laborers.

 

He said the worst forms of child labor include slavery, trafficking, recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, and pornography.

 

Under the Batang Malaya campaign, the DOLE seeks to turn every barangay with high prevalence of child labor into a child labor-free barangay.

 

Sarcauga said that at the barangay level, the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) has been established to uphold the wellbeing of the children. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News