Child laborers in Ifugao to be profiled: DOLE

LAGAWE, Ifugao – Child laborers were reported to abound in this province, some working in farms or as house helpers.  

For this, the provincial Dept. of Labor and Employment hired 14 interns under the Government Internship Program (GIP) to conduct a survey and make a profile of all child laborers in the 11 municipalities of Ifugao.

With lack of database on the real number or cases of child laborers in the province, Joseph Tuguinay of  DOLE-Ifugao said the interns consisting of 11 enumerators,  two encoders and one  supervisor were hired and oriented last July 23 and will be immediately deployed to their area of assignment to do their work for six months.

The interns  will provide assistance in coordination with the municipal local government units where the profiling child laborers shall be conducted, conduct interview with identified child laborers and  their  parents or guardians using the prescribed profiling and needs assessment tools, profile persons with disabilities and encode the data gathered to be submitted to the DOLE Field Office head for review.

DOLE-Ifugao Field Office Head Samuel Lasdacan encouraged the interns to maximize their learning to better understand the GIP and the child labor concerns. He also urged them to participate actively and thanked them for becoming part of the government’s advocacy against child labor.

Child labor is one of the manifestations of extreme poverty that make use of children innocence for family survival at the expense of the children’s normal growth and development

The DOLE Regional Office mandated its field offices to start the profiling of child laborers in the Cordillera Region pursuant to Republic Act 9231 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Law to provide protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination.

 The law aims to protect and rehabilitate children gravely threatened by circumstances which affect their survival and normal growth and development over which they have no control.

 Data on child laborers will enable agencies to implement appropriate interventions p or   to reduce and eliminate the worst form of child labor.

Roxy Diane Bandao, a social worker  who will be the overall supervisor,  discussed what is child labor, the legal basis and the profiling situationers that include the estimated number of child laborers, incidence of child laborers in the region, child labor by age and sex, child labor by industry group, main reasons for working among children ages 5-17 years old, school attendance rate of working children and non-working children, exposure to hazards of child laborers, child labor hotspots, profiling tools, referral services, privacy protocols, ethical considerations and data gathering types.

Bandao cautioned the interns to observe confidentiality of information with other stake holders and offices including confidentiality of the child laborers profiled and their families.

DOLE-Ifugao Field Office Head Samuel Lasdacan encouraged the interns to maximize their learning to better understand the GIP and the child labor concerns. He also urged them to participate actively and thanked them for becoming part of the government’s advocacy against child labor.

The GIP is enrolled with DOLE’s Kabataan 2000 program that provides young workers the opportunity to demonstrate their talents and skills in the field of public service with the objective of attracting the best and the brightest who want to pursue a career in government service. (JDP/DBC- PIA CAR, Ifugao)