ANTIQUE – One hundred children engaged in child labor in the province of Antique received educational cash assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 6.
Of the 100 children, there were 22 from Sibalom, 18 from Barbaza, 17 from Laua-an, 15 from Hamtic, 14 from Tobias Fornier, and 14 from Valderrama.
Each received P3,000 during this year’s World Day Against Child Labor celebration on June 7.
The assistance aims to encourage children to continue and prioritize their studies.
The DSWD also conducted a Capacity Building on SHIELD (Strategic Helpdesks for Information, Education, Livelihood, and Other Developmental Interventions) Against Child Labor Program.
SHIELD Focal Person Demi Fuentespina led the activity, together with the regional staff.
Antique Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Larry G. Petinglay, Office of the Vice Gov. Rep. Colonel Luciano Saiyo, and Vice Gov. Engr. Edgar D. Denosta pledged to help eliminate the worst forms of child labor by signing an oath of commitment.
Also present were Social Welfare and Development Team Leader in Antique Darlene Abagat and DOLE-6 Rep. Yulee Adan Salvarita, who served as a speaker.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), children are those below 18 years old or those over but cannot fully take care of or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition.
Child labor, meanwhile, refers to any work or economic activity a child performs that subjects him/her to any form of exploitation or harms his/her health and safety or physical, mental, or psychosocial development.
According to the International Labor Organization, child labor deprives children of their childhood, potential, and dignity. (With a report from the DSWD 6)/PN
