The Department of Labor and Employment-Zamboanga (DOLE-9) is beefing up its campaign against child labor in the region.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), DOLE-9 said the number of child laborers in the country has reached around 2.1 million.

These children are five years old to 17 years old. Instead of going to school, they can be seen doing heavy work that may affect their physical and mental development. Their primary purpose for working is to earn money.

DOLE-9 continues to validate the child laborers in the region who have already been profiled. As of this writing, the number of profiled child laborers is around 6,000.

“Since 2017, we double our efforts in validating that data. During our validation, nalaman namin na meron talagang child laborers na nandito not only dito sa ating region but in other regions as well,” DOLE-9 Director, Albert Gutib, said.

The agency said its programs and interventions to help child laborers are already in place.

“We referred the profiled child laborer to the concerned government agencies, like the Department of Education para makabalik sila sa school, maka-attend sila sa alternative learning system. Sa Department of Health para sa health ng mga kabataan, at saka sa mga LGU,” Gutib added.