CHILD LABOR

“They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, laboring
behind the walls of workshops/factories, hidden from view in sugarcane plantations,
unsafe in the production of pyrotechnics, collecting garbage from households, risking
their lives in the streets selling newspapers and cigarettes, hopping from one jeepney to
another to wipe our shoes and beg for alms afterwards, experiencing malnutrition, can be
seen asleep in the coldness of the earth provided with carton papers as their beds, paying
their ancestors’ debts in some big haciendas, working for their families in the rice farm,
diving for pearls in the ocean/seas of the archipelago, involved in mining and quarrying
in some places, demoralized and prostituted at young age… “

They aren’t worthy of these misfortunes.

It refers to the illegal employment of children below 18 years of age in hazardous

occupations. Underage children are being forced to manual labor to help their families
mainly due to poverty. Labor has many ill effects in children who are supposed to be in
the environment of a classroom rather than roaming the streets to earn money. Although
most do get the privilege of education, most of them end up being dropouts and repeaters
because they are not able to focus on their studies. Because of child labor, children suffer
from malnutrition, hampered growth, and improper biological development.

The use of child labor was not regarded a social problem until the introduction of
the factory system.

Child Labor is most concentrated in Asia and Africa, which together account for
more than 90% of total children employment. Though there are more child workers in
Asia than anywhere else, a higher percentage of African children participate in the labor
force. Asia is led by India, which has 44 million child laborers, diving it the largest child
workers are between the ages of 10 – 14 yrs. old (1991). Nigeria has 12 million child
workers. Child labor is also common in South America. For example, there are 7 million
children working in Brazil (ILO 1992).

Though restrictions on child labor exist in most nations, many children do work.
This vulnerable state leaves them prone to exploitation. The International Labour Office
reports that children work the longest hours and are the worst paid of all the laborers
(Bequele and Boyden 1988). They endure work conditions, which include health hazards
and potential abuse. Employers capitalize on the docility of the children recognizing that
these laborers cannot legally form unions to change their conditions. Such manipulation
stifles the development of youth. Their working conditions do not provide the stimulation
for physical and mental development. Finally, these children are deprived of the simple
joys of childhood, relegated instead to a life of drudgery. However, there are problems
with the obvious solution of abolishing child labor. First, there is no international
agreement defining child labor. Countries not only have different minimum age work
restrictions, but also have varying regulations based on the type of labor. This makes the
limits of child labor very ambiguous. Most would agree that a six year old is too young to
work, but whether the same can be said about a twelve year old is debatable.

Problems with the intuitive solution of immediately abolishing child labor to

prevent such abuse are first, there is no international agreement defining labor, making it
hard to isolate cases of abuse, let alone abolish them. Second, many children may have to
work in order to attend school so abolishing child labor may only hinder their education.
Any plans of abolishment depend on schooling. Also, there must be an economic change
in the condition of a struggling family to free a child from the responsibility of working.

Until there is global agreement, which can isolate cases of child labor, it will be
very hard to abolish. There is also the view that work can help a child in terms of
socialization, in building self – esteem and for training (Collins 1983). The problem is,
then, not child labor itself but the conditions under which it operates (Boyden 1991).

CHILD WORK VERSUS CHILD LABOR

Child work refers to the children’s participation in economic activity – that does
not negatively affect their health and development or interferes with education, can be
positive. Work that does not interfere with education (light work) is permitted from the
age of 12 years under the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 138.

Child labor is more narrowly defined and refers to children working in

contravention of the above standards. This means all children below 12 years old of age
working in any economic activities, those aged 12 to 14 years engaged in harmful work,
and all children engaged in the worst forms of child labor.

Worst forms of child labor involves children being enslaved, forcibly recruited,
trafficked, forced into illegal activities and exposed to hazardous work.

CHILD LABOR IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING

The Philippines is literally a young nation with a high percentage of young people
in its overall population. And the child labor problem in the Philippines is a serious one.

According to the National Statistics Office survey, there are about 4 million
working children in the country today.

Of the 4 million, 2.4 million are engaged in hazardous work, which means that
they are exposed to chemical, physical and biological hazards. These are the children
involved in the worst forms of child labor such as prostitution, domestic work, mining
and quarrying, commercial agriculture, deep – sea fishing and pyrotechnics production.

The following are the more salient figures in the survey:

•Four out of 25 million children, ages 5 – 17, are working. This means that one out of
6 works
•Mostly male, elementary grader (between 10 – 17 years old), usually rural – based
•Region IV has the highest incidence of child labor (12.5%); next is region VI
(11.8%); and Region XI (10.2%)
•Majority work as unskilled, unpaid, engaged in agriculture, on seasonal basis
laborers
•One of four children work during night time
•60% of working children, aged 5 – 17 years old are exposed to hazardous
environment.
•40% are elementary graduates; 32% reached high school; 3% never attended school
•59% are unpaid, work in household – operated farm or business
•53% in agriculture / forestry / hunting

Child labor is the participation of children in the creation of products like

sugarcane, pineapple, sardines or firecrackers or provision of services like domestic
help and sexual labor.

They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes,

laboring behind the walls of workshops/factories, hidden from view in sugarcane
plantations, unsafe in the production of pyrotechnics, collecting garbage from
households, risking their lives in the streets selling newspapers and cigarettes,
hopping from one jeepney to another to wipe our shoes and beg for alms afterwards,
experiencing malnutrition, can be seen asleep in the coldness of the earth provided
with carton papers as their beds, paying their ancestors’ debts in some big haciendas,
working for their families in the rice farm, diving for pearls in the ocean/seas of the
archipelago, involved in mining and quarrying in some places, demoralized and
prostituted at young age…

They aren’t worthy of these misfortunes.

In Metro Manila and neighboring towns, most child laborers are found in
factories, livestock industries like poultry farms and piggery. They often come from
the provinces. In many cases, they live like convicts, incarcerated and without the
freedom of movement. Young workers in the farm are made to sleep inside pigpen or
poultry house together with the animals.

In the Visayas and Mindanao, child labor is rampant in sugarcane, pineapple,

rubber, and asparagus plantations.

A significant number of child laborers can be found in sugar plantations in Tarlac.

These children are directly exposed to the elements like the sun and rains, their
growth is stunted because of the heavy load they carry on their shoulders.
Malnutrition is common among child laborers.
 Child labor, especially the hazardous kind is a scourge. It must be eliminated at all
cost, and the children must be saved from misery.

BASELINE RESEARCH

One year ago Lingap Pangkabataan Inc. started its CDL Program. There are now 101
Child Domestic Laborers being served and catered by this program. The CDL
program is assisted by US Department of Labor through the Winrock
International’s Community-Based Innovations to Reduce Child Labor
through Education (CIRCLE) initiative.

Socio-Demographic Profile
SEX
Almost three-fourths of the Child domestic Laborers involved in
the program are females (75) while the rest (26) are males (see Table
1).

Table 1. Sex
Category f %
Male 26 25.7
Female 75 74.3
TOTAL 101 100.0

This could be due to the nature of the work that these children
provide for their employees, which are mostly household chores. Being
a domestic worker, they do all household chores, including cooking and
washing clothes for males. A male child recounted,

“Kasi, since maraming mga pinsan ko kasi ilan po ba

kami dun, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 13 po kami lahat sa bahay
eh! Thirteen...maglalaba po ako ng mga damit kahit konti
lang.” --- Gerson, 17
However, some of the male participants do other work from females
aside from household chores. A child said that he was already used to
working even when he was still in the province. He narrated,
“Kasi po nagtrabaho din po ako sa probinsiya namin e.
Grade 5 po ako nung nagbubuhat po kami ng mga coco
lumber. Ewan ko kung bakit ako pumayat. Malaki dati
katawan ko eh. Nagbubuhat po kami ng coco lumber tapos
nagbabantay po ako ng... ano po dun pa sa may coco lumber
shop pa yung mga buko-buko. Tapos taga-tulak po para
mahiwa. Yun, yun pa po yung ginagawa ko. Naglalaba po
ako ng damit ng mga kapatid ko kasi maliliit pa po mga kapatid
ko eh.” --- Gerson, 17

AGE
As of May 2006, the ages of the child domestic laborers in the
program range from 13 to 17 years old. There were 69 respondents
who are fifteen years old and above – seventeen years old (26
respondents), sixteen years old (22 respondents) and fifteen years old
(21 respondents). On the other hand, there were 32 respondents who
are thirteen and fourteen years old – 18 and 14 respondents –
respectively (see Table 2).

Table 2. Age
Category f %
Thirteen 18 17.8
Fourteen 14 13.9
Fifteen 21 20.8
Sixteen 22 21.8
Seventeen 26 25.7
TOTAL 101 100.0

PLACE of ORIGIN

Most of the respondents are originally from Luzon (64%), namely

Ilocos Region (4%), Southern Tagalog (20%), Central Luzon (10%) and
Bicol Region (11%). At the same time, only a small percentage come
from the Visayas (13%), namely Region 6 (5%), Region 7 (2%) and
Region 8 (5%). Only a handful of respondents are from Mindanao (see
Table 3).

Table 3. Region of Origin

Category f %
Region 1 4 4.0
Region 2 7 6.9
Region 3 9 8.9
Region 4 20 19.8
Region 5 11 10.9
Region 6 5 5.0
Region 7 2 2.0
Region 8 6 5.9
Region 9 1 1.0
Region 10 2 2.0
Region 11 1 1.0
Region 12 1 1.0
Region 13 1 1.0
CAR 1 1.0
NCR 13 12.9
ARMM 1 1.0
Not Stated 16 15.8
TOTAL 101 100.0

Most of the children left their families in their own provinces.

Some of the children attested that it was their parents who sent them
in the city to work, for them to continue their studies.

Family Background

STATUS of PARENTS’ MARRIAGE

Although majority of the children involved in the program (55%)

have intact parents, there are also 16% of them whose parents were
already separated. It can be seen that a fourth of the children have
either deceased parents – father (12%), mother (2%) – or both (6%).
Other cases include being abandoned by parents or not knowing
his/her parents at all (see Table 4).

Table 4. Status of Family Marriage

f %
beaten by adoptive
1 1.5
parents
both parents
4 6.2
deceased
father deceased 8 12.3
mother deceased 1 1.5
father abandoned 1 1.5
father unknown 2 3.1
father unknown,
1 1.5
mother deceased
Intact 34 52.3
Separated 10 15.4
separated, mother
1 1.5
remarried
TOTAL 101 100.0

On the other hand, one of the strong reasons why CDLs accept
domestic jobs is because one of their parents died. This implied that
some of the cases of CDLs handled by Lingap were only due to the fact
that even at an early age, a child had to fill up some of the working
obligations of the deceased parent to his/her family. A female child
when asked how long had she been helping her mother in her laundry
work said,
“Am, simula po nung namatay ang tatay ko… …Nung
August 2005 po.” --- Julie, 13
Again, another reason was when parents separate. This was what
happened to one of the children under the program which she had to
work separately, since her mother remarried and already had another
family, after being separated with his father.
NUMBER of SIBLINGS

Most of the respondents’ (77) numbers of siblings range from two

to six, in which this is almost equally divided among these numbers.
There were 17 who had two siblings, 16 who had five siblings in their
families. At the same time, there were equal number of children who
had three and four siblings (15 responses each) (see Table 5).

Table 5. Number of Siblings

f %
None 6 5.9
One 5 5.0
Two 17 16.8
Three 15 14.9
Four 15 14.9
Five 16 15.8
Six 14 13.9
Seven 7 6.9
Eight 5 5.0
Nine 1 1.0
TOTAL 101

It is true that children who had many siblings go to this job more
often than not since, aside from their parents, they also had to help in
the family’s finances. A discussant said,

“Uhmm, kasi po para matulungan ko din po yung mother ko.

Kasi
siya lang po yung nagtatrabaho sa amin. Tapos, marami po
kaming
magkapatid dito. Tapos, kami lang yung dalawang
nagtutulungan
para may trabaho.” --- Joanna, 16

Due to the cost of living these days, there were instances

wherein they had to take the burden of providing help for the family
through working to other people. There were also some children who,
due to the fact that some of their siblings were already working, they
don’t have a choice but to also do the same. A female child said,

“Si Kuya parang ano po siya, parang sa construction. Nag-aayos

ng mga...ano ba yun.. yung mga escalator ganun po. Tapos
yung
isa ko pong kapatid… katulong din po siya sa ibang ano. Tapos
si Ate ko... Jonalyn, may trabaho po siyang iba kasi may anak
na siya. Binubuhay po niya.”
--Mish

Domestic Labor

RELATIONSHIP to EMPLOYER

Of the 101 total respondents, almost half of them stated that

their employers were not closely related to them, while 39 said that
they are working and living with their relatives (see Table 6)

Table 6. Children’s Relationship

to Employer
Relationship to
f %
Employer
Related 39 38.6
Non-related 50 49.5
Not Stated 12 11.9
Total 101 100.
0

Some of the participants who are living with their relatives said
they are sent to Manila by their own parents and left them to close
friends/relatives like tito, tita or lola.

Others who worked for people they are not related with said they
were also sent to work for them, since these people would help them
get through their studies. A child also said,
 “Pinakilala sa akin ng tatay ko. Tapos sabi po sa akin dadalhin
daw po ako sa Maynila. Tapos po pumunta po kami ng...Basta
po nag-iikot-ikot muna kami dito, nagpunta ng Blumentritt para
magtinda lang po kami ng orchids, pagdating po dun sa Cavite,
sa Bacoor po...Pinag-alaga niya po ako ng anak niya, yung
disable. Ako po nag-alaga nun. Bago po ako dinala ni Ate Marlyn
dun sa Tita ko.”
--- Gerson, 17

WORK HAZARDS

Deprivation of sleep was the most common hazard that the child
domestic laborers reported. Almost one out of four of the children in
the program experience excessive hours of work (24%). The children
have to wake up early to start their chores. A total of eight respondents
reported that they are prohibited to attend school by their employer.
Less than 1/3 of the children have reported “no” work hazards (see
Table 7).

Table 7. Work Hazards

MR*
Category F %
Excessive hours of work 30 24.0
Prohibition to attend to 8 6.4
school
Deprived of sleep 34 27.2
Hazardous jobs 2 1.6
Others 8 6.4
None 38 30.4
Not Stated 5 4.0
*n=125

The CDLs usually do a lot of household chores, whether they are

related or not with the persons they are staying with. One discussant
enumerated the things she usually do everyday,

“Naglilinis ng bahay, nagwawalis, nag-aayos ng mga gamit-

gamit. Ano, pinupunasan yung mga displays. Eto rin naglalaba
kapag weekends… … “Tapos naghuhugas ng plato, araw,
 tanghali, tsaka gabi… “ --- Mish, 14

Furthermore, another participant recounted his daily tasks in the

house with the exact time when he does everything. According to him,
he usually foregoes his personal needs and prioritizes the household
chores everyday.

“Pag 5...5:30 kasi ako gumigising ng umaga. Tapos pag 5:30,

di muna ako maghihilamos, di muna ako magsisipilyo, liligpitin
ko muna yung mga pinaghigaan ko. . Tapos, bago ako
magsipilyo
tsaka maglinis ng katawan, pinupunasan ko muna ‘tong ano
namin.”
--- Gerson, 17

Most of the time though, even at weekends, some of the CDLs still had
to work instead of rest. One FGD participant said,

“Tapos po, pagka-yung Sabado, naglalaba ako ng mga ano nila.

Tapos naglilinis din ng mga bakuran nila tapos ano, naglilinis ng
bahay. Tapos pag Linggo naman po, nagpaplantsa naman ako.
Yun lang po.” --- Joanna, 16

Such schedule made them literally busy and deprived of rest and
sleep. Some of them had to wake up early everyday and go to bed late
at night only after they’ve finished their household duties. Only this
time can they finally rest and do their assignments in school.

“Tapos po 8 magpapahinga na po ako nun, hinihintay ko na ang

alas-dose, alas-dose na po kasi ako natutulog hinihintay ko na
lang po kung may iuutos pa tapos bago po ako matulog.”
--- Gerson, 17

FREE TIME

The Child Domestic Laborers usually had their rest and recreation
after having finished all their tasks for the day. However, some of them
only have their day-offs from work once or twice in one month. Some
of the participants in the FGD said that,

“Bale yung pinaka-free time ko gabi na po yun, pag nanonood

ng
TV...yun lang. Tapos pag tinatamad naman po ako ng TV,
nagbabasa na lang po ako o kaya nakikipagkwentuhan ako sa
kaibigan ko.” --- Karen, 16

“Tapos, maghihilamos na po ako. 7:30 po pupunta na po ako sa

manukan, mapapakain na po kami ng manok, magpapaligo
tapos
pagtapos po niyan, 9 na po ako lalabas...magbabasketball na po
ako,
maglalaro na po. Tapos pagdating po ng 10, manonood na po
ako
ng TV.” --- Denver, 15

“Mga bandang, pag natapos ko na po lahat ng gawain sa bahay,

pwede na po akong maglaro. Tapos yun, pupunta sa mga
kaibigan
pag bandang hapon na po, tapos yun. Yun lang po gawain ko.”

--- Art, 16

SALARY in a MONTH

Out of the whole CDL respondents, almost a third of them stated

that they earn from P501 to 1000 pesos in a month. At the same time,
there were 18 respondents who said they are getting below 500 pesos,
while 14 said they are getting 1001 to 1500 pesos every month of
work. It is notable that only one child receives a salary of 3,000 pesos.
The average salary of the Child Domestic Laborers is from 501 to 1000
pesos (see Table 8).

Table 8. Income CDL

Income in Pesos f %
500 and Below 18 17.8
501 – 1000 32 31.7
1001 – 1500 14 13.9
1501 – 2000 6 5.9
2001 – 2005 5 5.0
 2501 – 3000 1 1.0
Not Stated 25 24.8
TOTAL 101 100.0

Among the respondents who stated their salaries, 16 of the

respondents who earn between the average salary which is from 501
to 1000 pesos, said they are related to their employees as opposed to
13 who stated they are not related to their employees. Cross tabulating
children’s relationship with their employer by their salaries in a month,
it is evident that the number of children decreases as the salaries
increase, whether they related or not to their employers. It can be also
noted that almost one fourth of the respondents did not state their
salaries, which is considerably a large percentage already (see Table
9).

Table 9. Salary Month by Relationship to Employer

Relationship to
Employer
Salary in Pesos Non- Not
Related
related Stated
f % f % F %
500 and Below 8 7.9 9 8.9 1 1.0
501 – 1000 16 15.8 13 12.8 3 3.0
1001 – 1500 3 3.0 9 8.9 2 2.0
1501 – 2000 - - 5 5.0 1 1.0
2001 – 2005 1 1.0 3 3.0 1 1.0
2501 – 3000 - - 1 1.0 - -
Not Stated 11 10.9 10 9.9 4 4.0
 TOTAL 39 38.6 50 49.5 12 12

This assumption can be further strengthened, as some of those who

are living with their own relatives do not give them fixed monthly
salaries, since their food for everyday and their allowance for school.
Some of the children when asked how much they get from working in
their relatives’ house said,

“Sa Tita ko po? Wala pong binibigay sa akin.”

--- Gerson, 17

“Wala po... Basta wala po. Basta, parang nakikitira po ako

sa kanila tapos kapag may school, pag may ano na po...
sila po yung bahala.”
--- Mish, 14

“Yung ganun po. Bale dito, bago ako nagtrabaho sa bahay

…basta nagtatrabaho po ako sa bahay namin pero hindi
naman po sinuswelduhan. Bale, nakikitira lang po, ganun po.”
--- Art, 16

Educational Background

SCHOOL

All the children involved in the program attend schools which are
located within Quezon City. Among the children, one out of four is
enrolled in Krus na Ligas High School. Other children attend school at
Camp Gerneral Emilio Aguinald High School (19), Flora Ylagan High
School (20), and Carlos P. Garcia High School (13). A small number of
children go to school at Juan Sumulong High School (2) and Ramon
Magsaysay High School (3) (see Table 10.)
 Table 10. School
Category f %
Juan Sumulong 2 2.0
Camp General Emilio
19 18.8
Aguinaldo
Carlos P. Garcia 13 12.9
Ramon Magsaysay 3 3.0
Lagro High School 8 7.9
Krus na Ligas 26 25.7
Flora Ylagan 20 19.8
Others 8 7.9
No answer 2 2.0
TOTAL 101 100.0

YEAR LEVEL

Of the 101 child domestic laborers, 29 of them have reached 1st

year high school. An equal number of children have reached 2nd or 3rd
year high school. It must be noted that some of the children have
stopped formal education at one point. Only 7% of the children have
only graduated from elementary (see Table 11).

Table 11. Year level

Category f %
Elementary
7 6.9
graduate
1st year
29 28.7
Highschool
2nd year
26 25.7
Highschool
3rd year
26 25.7
Highschool
4th year
9 8.9
Highschool
Not Stated 4 4.0
 TOTAL 101 100.0

Although, a handful of CDLs stopped schooling at one point, their

studies seemed to be one of the reasons why they had to enter and
continue to stay in such jobs. Education was, according to them very
important since it is one of the ways they can help their own families
get up from poverty. One determined student said,

“Sa magkakapatid po ako lang po yung nag-aaral. Bale yung ate

ko po, 2nd year lang natapos. Mga kapatid ko hindi nag-aaral
eh…

…Magcocollege po ako. Gusto ko po makabuo, 4 year-course.

Para po makatulong sa family ko. Para po sa aming
magkakapatid
man lang, ako po yung makakapagtapos.”
--- Gerson, 17

TALENTS and SKILLS

One important aspect that CDL Program enhances aside from

providing financial help as support for the Child Domestic Laborers is
the talents and skills of these young children. Many of them are active
in Lingap and other community activities, in which they can show some
their talents and skills in music, sports and academics. Lingap conducts
Children Forum every third week of the month, wherein they can
actually plan their activities for the whole year. Furthermore, they are
assisted in enhancing their talents and skills through workshops in
song, dance, theater and instrument playing together with their fellow
CDLs. At the same time, children are also given the opportunity to join
contests on drawing, poster-making, poem-writing are also provided by
Lingap.
 Under the same program, children themselves encourage each
other to participate in different activities to be able to do other things
aside from their household work.

Through the year also, tutorials on the subjects Math, Science

and English – in which most of the children admitted to have difficulty
in such areas. On the other hand, as of February 2005, there were
already 73 CDLs provided with school needs, specifically materials for
their school projects, field trip fees and uniforms. The project also did
some minor help to the families of those who accidentally burned by
fire.

Children under the program also get to learn lessons about God
which made them enjoy and thankful about Lingap.

“Siyempre po masaya.. Unang-una, marami pong bagong

kaibigan.
Tapos ano po... sa Lingap po kasi sila po yung sumusuporta
po sa pag-aaral namin, ganun po. Tsaka sila po yung tumutulong
po para mapalapit sa Diyos, kaya po masaya po. “
--- Art, 16

All these endeavors and activities helped the CDLs to be able to socialize with
other people, meet some friends and learn other things outside their boxes. The
organization, together with the Child Domestic Laborers hope that such efforts to
improve their lives would continue for them to get out of domestic job and achieve their
future dreams and ambitions.

FACTORS CAUSING THE PROBLEM OF CHILD LABOR

Poverty is the primary cause of child labor in the developing countries like the
Philippines. Children work to ensure the survival of their family and themselves. Though
children are not well paid, they still serve as major contributors to family income in the
developing countries.

Children are often prompted to work by their parents. According to one study,
parents represent 62% of the source of induction into employment. Children make their
own decisions to work only 8% of the time (Syed et. al. 1991). In fact, a possible reason
parents in developing countries have children is because they can be profitable of their
children. Children seem to be much less of an economic burden in developing versus
developed countries. Children in developing countries also contribute more time to
households than they deplete as compared to their counterparts in developed countries
(Lindert 1976). Therefore, parents in developing countries make use of children’s ability
to work. Evidence suggests that parents have children based on a cost – benefit
perspective. Children in developing countries tend to be of economic value and, as a
result, become a desirable asset for struggling parents. This desire also leads to the
increase of the population that is also one of the factors causing child labor.

Schooling problems also contribute to child labor. Many times children seek
employment because there is no access to schools possibly because of the distance or
worse yet there are no schools at all. When there is access, the low quality of the
education often makes attendance a waste of time for the students. Schools in many
developing areas suffer from problems such as overcrowding, lack of resources,
inadequate sanitation and pathetic teachers. As a result, parents may find no use of
sending their children to school when they could be home learning a skill, farming for
example and supplementing the family income. Because parents have so much control
over their children, their perception of the value of school is a main determinant of child
attendance. Parents who are educated understand for themselves the importance of
schooling from personal experience. School attendance by a child is also highly
correlated with family income. Therefore, when children drop out of school, it is not
necessarily because of irresponsible parenting; it may be due to the family’s financial
situation. When these children leave school, they become potential workers.

Traditional factors are also important. The established female role in certain
countries dictates that women will not fit into traditional roles if they become educated.
Such cultural practices restrict the education of females and promote child employment.
The acceptance of social class participation perpetuates child labor as well.

Often parents assign different roles into their children. This has been called child
specialization, and may increase the number of working children. This phenomenon
involves certain siblings going to school while the others work.

Rapid rural – to – urban migration is the cause for the increasing rate of child
labor in the urban areas of the developing countries. Families leave the severity of
agricultural working conditions for cities in order to search for economic opportunities
that often do not exist.

Unchecked growth of population – rapid growth of population adds up to the

enormous number of working children here in the Philippines. Parents keep on having
children who would then be working for the family just to have some food on there table
during meals and feed their empty stomachs.

Another problem with the complete abolition of child labor is that education
and employment for children are not mutually exclusive. Many children work and go to
school. In fact, many children have to work to go to school; otherwise, they could not
afford the tuition and other fees associated with attendance.

Family structure research shows that 75% of the working children are products
of broken families. There are no parents to take care of them, feed them, provide them
with their first education and their needs so they won’t need to roam around the streets
and do pathetic works to earn money.

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

Lack of Awareness – the government has numerous projects on child labor, but the
communities aren’t aware of these or even the approach of the advocates is not pleasing
for the audience.

Lack of Knowledge – people may then have access to the campaign in their community,
but it is also possible that these people are illiterate or couldn’t understand the materials,
or it also depend on what kind of information and materials the advocates will feed the
audience.

Lack of Acceptance – the advocates inform the parents about the issue on child labor, if
they would not accept it because of their orientation that the younger their children work
the better because their children are being trained at an early age. This happens both in
urban and rural areas.

Lack of Determination – the audience accepts the fact that is not right for their children
to work. They also knew that their children could be abused by overworking. They
cannot prevent this because of their status in life. They thought that if all of them will
work it would change their dilemma.

Lack of Access –it pertains to a certain distance of a place. Even though we have
knowledgeable IECs but if the place is not accessible for the advocates its useless,
because we must consider the place of our target audience.

Lack of Participation – people may find it less interesting to attend seminars with
regards to the issue, the employers would probably be in denial when accused violating,
some of the parents who are supposedly the ones to protect their children turned out to be
the ones to push their kids into work, then, even the children involved in the issue are not
participating because of they fear of losing their jobs.
LAWS ABOUT SPECIAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST CHILD
ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND DISCRIMINATION ACT

Children shall not be the object of attack and shall be entitled to special respect.
They shall be protected from any form of threat, assault, torture or other cruel, inhumane
or degrading treatment.

Shall recognize the vital role of the children in nation building and shall promote
and promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-
being.

Article VIII Section 12

The employer shall consider the following before having a child laborer in their welfare.
 A work permit from the Department of Labor and Employment.
 Ensure protection, health, safety, and morals of the child.
 Institute measures to prevent exploitation or discrimination taking into account
the system and level of remuneration and the duration and arrangement of
working time.
 Formulate and implement a continuous program for training and skill acquisition
of the child.

R.A. #7610

Develop to provide special protection on children from all forms of abuse,

neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination and other prejudicial to their
development. The State shall intervene on behalf of the child when the parent, guardian,
teacher or person having cared and custody of.

It is to protect and rehabilitate children gravely threatened or enlargened by

circumstances which affect or will affect their survival and normal development and over
which they have no control.

R.A. #9231

Declared to provide special protection on children from all forms of abuse,

neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination and other prejudicial to their
environment including child labor and its worst forms; provide sanctions for their
commission and carry out a program for prevention and deterrence of and crisis
intervention in situation of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

Exemption of employment for children below 15yrs. old

• Child works directly under the sole responsibility of their parents
 • Parents permit their children to work in entertainment or information through
cinema, television, radio, magazines, etc.
Hours of work of a working child:

• 15 years of age - maximum of 20 hours/wk

• 15 years but below 18 years – maximum of 40 hours/wk

Determination:
Inculcate to the minds of almost 25% of the respective audience the conditions of those
involving in child labor and the circumstances they are in after 6 months.

PRIMARY AUDIENCE

Child laborers: we have to inform them that even if they need to work for their family’s
survival and their own, there’s still a conflict with it because under 15 years old are not
allowed to work provided that the parents allow them.

Employers: even if they have the good intentions for the welfare of child, still it is against
the law and there are penalties for it. Also it aims to tolerate the child to involve in such
act.

Parents: they should be the first to stop their child to work but with country like ours,
most likely, the parents become dependent to the child hoping that they will alleviate
them from poverty. And also the culture of the Philippines accepts this kind of situation
because parents think that their child is an investment and by this, the child carry the
burden of responsibilities.

TERTIARY AUDIENCE

The government shall recognize the vital role of the youth in nation building and
shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-
being by enhancing their over all development, taking into account sectoral needs and
conditions in the development of educational, cultural, recreational policies and programs
addressed to them