The United States (US) Labor Department gave the Philippines a $15-million (approximately P645-million) grant from for its fight against child labor, especially in the sugarcane-growing areas. US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced the grant during a ceremony at the Great Hall of the US Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. on October 3. Solis said eradicating child labor is one of the top priorities of the Obama administration, adding that "every child should be given an opportunity to fulfill their dreams." Philippine ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said, "The Philippine government welcomes the innovative initiative of the US government, through the Department of Labor (US DOL), in fighting exploitative child labor, in terms of programmatic interventions and policy recommendations." Cuisia said the grant complements the Social Development Framework of the Philippine Development Plan for 2011 to 2016. It will support the Philippine government's policies, programs, and institutional mechanisms that address child labor, he added. Aside from Cuisia, those present at the ceremony were:
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a champion of the child labor issue in the U.S. Congress; DOL Deputy Undersecretary Sandra Polaski; International Labor Organization (ILO) Director for the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) Constance Thomas, and World Vision-Philippines Project Director Daphne Culanag. During the ceremony, the US released grants totaling $32.5 million, including the $15 million for the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. The grants also include a $15-million allocation for a 40-country "Research to Action" project to be implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The ILO will produce a Global Action Plan to combat exploitative child labor and forced labor, and translate into "legislations, enforcement, policies and social protection measures." Reports on child labor Three reports on international child labor and forced labor were also released during the ceremony. The US DOL's annual "Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and/or Forced Labor" was mandated by the Trade Development Act of 2000 (TDA). ILO estimates that around 250 million children are exploited or are engaged in forced labor, almost half or 115 million work in hazardous areas. Harkin expressed optimism that the US DOL reports will soon "equal, in stature, to the US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report." He said updating the child labor legislation in the US, especially in the agriculture sector, "will shine a spotlight on this tragedy...a form of human slavery." Implementing entity World Vision-Philippines is the winning implementing entity of the $15-million four-year program for the Philippines, running from October 2011 to September 2015. The project's activities include enhancing formal schools and alternative learning opportunities by: providing vocational education to targeted children; strengthening educational services through teacher training; improving the school curriculum, and repairing damaged school infrastructures. The project will also offer livelihood support and social protection programs to working and at-risk children and targeted household members. World Vision Philippines was also a recipient of a $5.5-million grant from the US DOL to "Combat Child Labor through Education in the Philippines." The four-year project, which concluded on September 30, successfully withdrew 61,000 Filipino children from various forms of child labor. - VVP, GMA News 
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