ILO sounds the alarm over PHL child labor

The International Labor Organization (ILO) is concerned that the number of child laborers in the Philippines is rising, saying some 2.4 million are working in hazardous conditions and forced to quit school. ILO Philippine director Lawrence Jeff Johnson said the poverty situation in the country and the lack of access to education, particularly in rural areas, drive many children into the worst forms of child labor. The Philippines, however, is not an "isolated case" when it comes to the problem of child labor, he said, adding that many Filipino parents let their children work on the farm and do informal work such as sidewalk and street vending, which prompt many children to drop out of school. Giovanni Soledad, head of the ILO program on the Elimination of Child Labor, also said that those caught in the worst forms of child labor in the Philippines are not yet tallied among those 2.4 million child laborers. He said that the figures are based on the Labor Force Survey of the Philippines conducted in 2001. The Geneva-based ILO is currently doing a survey on children suffering from the worst forms of child labor, including victims of trafficking, pornography, as well as those used as drug couriers and in armed conflict. The worst forms of child labor are slavery — or similar practices — commercial sexual exploitation, unlawful activities and any hazardous work, according to the organization. Johnson meanwhile said the drop out rate for elementary students has risen over the last three years from 5.99 percent on average in 2007-2008 to 6.28 percent in 2009-2010. "Children who combine work with school often drop out, as child labor interferes with their learning. And children who have poor access to education, often work to meet immediate family needs, [and often due to] the lack of a better alternative," said Johnson in a press briefing Tuesday in Quezon City. About 3 billion people in the world are economically active — or formally employed — of which 1.5 billion are vulnerably employed including the working poor that allow their children to work. There's nothing wrong with the Filipino cultural trait of allowing children to participate in farming and other informal sector work such as vending, as participation in these activities teaches children the value of earning, said Johnson. "It’s one way to tell [the parents] it’s wrong. But it’s [another thing] to work and collaborate with them so the parents will have decent jobs and will not allow their children to work," said Johnson, adding that many parents do such, "because they have to do what they have to do." Child labor in the Philippines comes in different forms, and that the agency has noted that many young girls are hired for lewd shows in KTV bars in both rural and urban areas, Labor Undersecretary Lourdes Transmonte said. "We have noticed an increase in the number of young girls being hired [in] KTV bars, and we have activated the program (for) rescuing them and ordering the closure of the KTV bars," said Transmonte, noting that the young girls in KTV bars are mostly victims of trafficking, and come from poor provinces. In rural areas, children work in plantations under the heat of the sun, carry heavy loads, and use dangerous tools and implements. In the cities, Transmonte said young children, mostly girls, are made to work in bars, where they are made to perform lewd & indecent shows. — AY/VS, GMA News