DOLE and partners give parents of 30 child laborers 13 carabaos to help them earn
In Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, DOLE and partners give parents of 30 child laborers 13 carabaos to help them earn, keep their children away from hazardous work
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the DOLE Regional Office-Caraga has followed through its earlier action against the worst forms of child labor when it converged with its partners and brought a package of assistance to 30 child laborers and their parents.
Baldoz made the announcement after receiving the report of DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte about the latter's recent visit to Brgy. Balenguian, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte where she, together with Congresswoman Angelica Amante-Matba, DOLE Caraga Regional Director Ofelia Domingo, Jabonga Mayor Glicerio Monton, Balenguian Brgy. Captain Luzminda Degamon, Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns Director Chit Cilindro, and ILO Manila Office Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson, presided over the turn-over of eight (8) carabaos, or water buffalos, to the parents of the 30 identified children who were popularly called "batang kalabaw", on account of their previous back-breaking work as log haulers. Their parents themselves used to haul logs to earn a living.
Five more carabaos, all female, committed by Rep. Amante and Agusan del Norte governor Erlpe Amante, will be released within the month, to bring the total to 13 carabaos.
"This was to make good our earlier promise to the parents, after we had "freed" their children and returned them to school, that the DOLE will come back to the community and provide them with livelihood assistance so they will not be forced to send their children to haul off logs," Baldoz explained.
"The water buffalos were for the livelihood of the families of the child laborers. These will provide them means to earn so there will be no need for their children to work to augment the family income," said Baldoz.
The turn-over of the carabaos to the parents was a result of Secretary Baldoz's instruction to Director Domingo to converge the regional office's anti-child labor program, particularly the DOLE's child labor-free barangay campaign, with the efforts of other national government agencies, notably the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Education, Health, Agriculture, Interior and Local Government, Environment and Natural Resources, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and private sector partners to return the children log haulers to school.
A media report had alerted the DOLE regional office on the prevalence of child laborers allegedly hauling off logs in Brgy. Bagang, a remote barangay of Jabonga, leading it to set up a Quick Action Team to act fast on the report.
A Quick Action Team is one of the mechanics under the DOLE's Sagip Batang Manggagawa program, an inter-agency quick action mechanism which aims to respond to cases of child labor in extremely abject conditions. A Quick Action Team detects, monitors, and rescues child laborers in hazardous and exploitative working conditions.
DOLE-Caraga's first visit to the area was in April to deliver its package of assistance to the child laborers. For security reasons, the delivery of the assistance was held in nearby Brgy Baleguian, not in Brgy. Bagang where the beneficiaries reside. Each of the 30 children received t-shirts, slippers, and meals.
Last week, the DOLE and its convergent partners returned to Brgy. Baleguian to deliver the carabaos to the children's parents who are all informal farm workers with no formal schooling. A few of them were log haulers themselves. Most of the mothers are stay-at-home housewives also with no means of income.
During the program, the former child laborers, aged 7 to 17 years old, most of whom are now back in school were given a fresh supply of slippers and t-shirts, as well as additional school supplies. A memorandum of agreement among the convergent partners, including the Philippine Management Association of the Philippines and the Regional Family Welfare Council which pledged P4,000 in regular financial support for the schooling of the children, were signed.
Baldoz said the DOLE's anti-child labor program calls for close collaboration with local government units, especially barangay captains, to "emancipate" areas with high incidence of child labor.
“Totoong kalabaw ang ipinamahagi natin sa mga magulang ng mga bata sa layuning mabigyan sila ng magagamit sa paghahanap-buhay. Ang kapalit nito ay ang kanilang pangako na pag-aaralin at paglalaruin nila bilang mga bata ang kanilang mga anak,” said Baldoz in Filipino.
“The parents' role is to put food in the family table. They should also protect their children from any form of neglect, abuse, and exploitation. Our children's place is the school where these children must belong, not in the back-breaking work of hauling off logs," Baldoz said.
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the DOLE Regional Office-Caraga has followed through its earlier action against the worst forms of child labor when it converged with its partners and brought a package of assistance to 30 child laborers and their parents.
Baldoz made the announcement after receiving the report of DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte about the latter's recent visit to Brgy. Balenguian, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte where she, together with Congresswoman Angelica Amante-Matba, DOLE Caraga Regional Director Ofelia Domingo, Jabonga Mayor Glicerio Monton, Balenguian Brgy. Captain Luzminda Degamon, Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns Director Chit Cilindro, and ILO Manila Office Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson, presided over the turn-over of eight (8) carabaos, or water buffalos, to the parents of the 30 identified children who were popularly called "batang kalabaw", on account of their previous back-breaking work as log haulers. Their parents themselves used to haul logs to earn a living.
Five more carabaos, all female, committed by Rep. Amante and Agusan del Norte governor Erlpe Amante, will be released within the month, to bring the total to 13 carabaos.
"This was to make good our earlier promise to the parents, after we had "freed" their children and returned them to school, that the DOLE will come back to the community and provide them with livelihood assistance so they will not be forced to send their children to haul off logs," Baldoz explained.
"The water buffalos were for the livelihood of the families of the child laborers. These will provide them means to earn so there will be no need for their children to work to augment the family income," said Baldoz.
The turn-over of the carabaos to the parents was a result of Secretary Baldoz's instruction to Director Domingo to converge the regional office's anti-child labor program, particularly the DOLE's child labor-free barangay campaign, with the efforts of other national government agencies, notably the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Education, Health, Agriculture, Interior and Local Government, Environment and Natural Resources, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and private sector partners to return the children log haulers to school.
A media report had alerted the DOLE regional office on the prevalence of child laborers allegedly hauling off logs in Brgy. Bagang, a remote barangay of Jabonga, leading it to set up a Quick Action Team to act fast on the report.
A Quick Action Team is one of the mechanics under the DOLE's Sagip Batang Manggagawa program, an inter-agency quick action mechanism which aims to respond to cases of child labor in extremely abject conditions. A Quick Action Team detects, monitors, and rescues child laborers in hazardous and exploitative working conditions.
DOLE-Caraga's first visit to the area was in April to deliver its package of assistance to the child laborers. For security reasons, the delivery of the assistance was held in nearby Brgy Baleguian, not in Brgy. Bagang where the beneficiaries reside. Each of the 30 children received t-shirts, slippers, and meals.
Last week, the DOLE and its convergent partners returned to Brgy. Baleguian to deliver the carabaos to the children's parents who are all informal farm workers with no formal schooling. A few of them were log haulers themselves. Most of the mothers are stay-at-home housewives also with no means of income.
During the program, the former child laborers, aged 7 to 17 years old, most of whom are now back in school were given a fresh supply of slippers and t-shirts, as well as additional school supplies. A memorandum of agreement among the convergent partners, including the Philippine Management Association of the Philippines and the Regional Family Welfare Council which pledged P4,000 in regular financial support for the schooling of the children, were signed.
Baldoz said the DOLE's anti-child labor program calls for close collaboration with local government units, especially barangay captains, to "emancipate" areas with high incidence of child labor.
“Totoong kalabaw ang ipinamahagi natin sa mga magulang ng mga bata sa layuning mabigyan sila ng magagamit sa paghahanap-buhay. Ang kapalit nito ay ang kanilang pangako na pag-aaralin at paglalaruin nila bilang mga bata ang kanilang mga anak,” said Baldoz in Filipino.
“The parents' role is to put food in the family table. They should also protect their children from any form of neglect, abuse, and exploitation. Our children's place is the school where these children must belong, not in the back-breaking work of hauling off logs," Baldoz said.
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