ILOILO City – To put an end to child labor, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) granted P1.29 million worth of projects to parents of child workers in two local government units in Capiz.
According to Amy Judicpa, officer-in-charge of DOLE-Capiz, the projects are funded under the agency’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.
This year, a total of 72 parents benefitted from the livelihood supports, while proposals for 27 more recipients are pending.
These included the P500,000 Agricultural Supply Store in Barangay Bula in Mambusao town benefitting 42 recipients and P792,000 worth of livelihood projects, such as a fishing boat, sari-sari-store, and rice retailing to 30 beneficiaries in Barangay Punta Cogon in Roxas City.
Since 2018, Judicpa said there are 4, 781 laborers in Capiz, and these child laborers are engaged in industries or services that are hazardous.
“Capiz is into agriculture, and they are being involved by their parents in farming and harvest of sugarcane and corn,” she pointed out.
About 35 percent of the agri-sector in the province is into sugarcane farming. When harvest season comes, these children temporarily stop schooling to help their parents on the farm, according to Judicpa.
As part of the World Day Against Child Labor on June 12, DOLE-Capiz gave school supply kits to 346 profiled child laborers under its “Project Angel Tree.”
It is an annual activity of the department to visit different barangays and distribute school supply kits to profiled child laborers.(PNA/PN)
