| 5.5m Filipino children toil at workplaces, says study |
Manolo B.Jara
MANILA A government official reported that the number of Filipino child workers has soared to more than 5.5 million with close to three million exposed to hazardous conditions.
Carmencita Ericta, the head of the National Statistics Office, said the study conducted in 2011 and involving 50,000 families nationwide, showed that majority of the children, aged five to 17 were employed in the agricultural sector.
The rest, Ericta said, can be found in mining sites, quarrying, factories and construction while a number of them may possibly be engaged in the flesh trade.
According to Erica, the figure represents close to 19 per cent of the 29 million Filipino children under the same age bracket.
“As they grow older, these working children tend to drop out of school,” Ericta warned despite the existence of a Philippine law prohibiting the employment of children below 15 years old.
“With the younger age group, five to nine,” Ericta pointed out, “about 90 per cent are in school but by the time they reach 15, only half of them are in school.”
As defined by the International Labour Organisation, child labour is work that deprives children of their childhood.
Jinggoy Estrada, the Senate president protempore, expressed alarm over the report as he described child labour as a “modern day slavery practice.”
Estrada urged the Department of Labour and Employment and the Philippine National Police to step up the campaign against child labour.
Oman Tribune
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