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The Philippines:Free the Children (Liz and Audrey)

Page history last edited by Audrey Lancon 15 years, 3 months ago

 

Child Labor in the Philippines (background)

Historically, the use of child labor is more of an issue in poverty stricken areas. “Poverty due to unemployment and underemployment had been the most major push factor in the occurrence of child labor.[i]  Out of the 88 million people in the Philippines, about 33% fall below the poverty level meaning that they cannot afford the necessities to survive such as food, clothing, shelter and schooling. A majority of children in these circumstances are forced to work either by their parents or from necessity rather than attending school. These children could feel that their schooling is less important than their family’s survival.[ii] According to the ILO, approximately 774,000 children are used as laborers and, of those, 98,000 are between the ages of five and nine.[iii] This accounts for 16% of all children in the Philippines.[iv] Roughly half of all child workers are employed in agriculture, while other children work in manufacturing, dynamite fishing, mining and quarrying, pearl farming, fishing, domestic work, and prostitution.[v]

 

Although this is an issue, there are people out there who are working to solve the problem. A new report from the ILO states that child labor worldwide has fallen 11% between 2000 and 2004. And the age groups have fallen even more; working children aged 5-17 decreased by 26% during this time. However, Asia and the Pacific still have the highest number of working children in the world which is about 122 million.[vi] On September 5, 2008, The Department of Education (DepEd) signed an agreement with the World Vision Development Foundation to bring 800,000 Filipino children back to school. The  Pag-aaral ng mga Bata Para sa Kinabu­kasan , also known as the ABK2 Initiative is a four-year program trying to reduce the number of exploited workers in the Philippines.[vii]  As these children grow, all they will ever know is how to do hard labor. When they become senior citizens, they will be hard-pressed to find jobs that they can do because of their lack of education.

 

There are laws in the Philippines for child labor. Employed workers must be at least 15 years old for general employment which means that they can do any job that an adult can. However, children under 15 may work if the company they work for gets a permit from the Department of Labor and Employment and the jobs given to these minors are appropriate for them. This means that the protection, health and safety of the minors can be ensured; exploitation and discrimination are prevented; and continuous training can be provided. Numerous programs are being instituted in the Philippines to fix and help prevent child labor. These include the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). Even non-governmental organizations are stepping up. The Kamalayan Development Center receives information on exploited workers and then conduct raids on the factories. Another non-governmental approach to solve this is to shelter the street children so they won’t feel the need to get a job.[viii]

Although they have been confronted with this issue, the Philippines are still surrounded with child labor. Even though this is still a major issue within the country, steps are being taken to find a solution. With outside help and more government involvement, child labor will hopefully be eradicated in the Philippines within a few years. As more generations grow up with this problem, Filipinos are becoming unconsciously numb to this morally corrupt way of life. The economic setbacks of the Philippines only serve to expedite the problem by promoting the children to go to work to pay for living expenses that could not be afforded otherwise. Education is the solution, but most of these child workers feel that money for their family’s survival is more important.

 

The Loss of Sensitivity

As many children grow up with this problem in their backyard, it seems to hold no emotional value anymore. Jocelyn (a domestic helper from the Philippines) was asked about child labor in her country, and she casually referred to it as if it were commonplace.  People in the Philippines talk about it like it is an old hat, and don’t seem to comprehend the psychological damage it is causing these subjugated workers. They face humiliation everyday because they have less of an education then some of their peers.

Not only are they mentally damaged, but can be physically crippled as well. Some kids are forced to raise money by any means and this includes dynamite fishing; carrying water from the mountains and selling it for a small price; and collecting coconuts to sell for a price. Obviously dynamite fishing can result in the death or serious injury of the child. Once the child is injured, there is no fiscal compensation for them which can cause serious stress in the child’s life and a feeling of worthlessness. The carrying of water and coconuts for a profit is also physically damaging. These very small and young children are forced to carry extremely heavy loads on their back and in turn interfere with the proper development of their back.

Economics

 

The economic situation facing the country only worsens the child labor problem. Approximately 33% of the 88 million Filipinos are considered poor. This makes it harder for families to afford schooling for their children even though school only cost about SGD$25 for one semester.  Usually they can only afford to send 2 or 3 to school, and the older siblings usually volunteer to go to work to support their brothers’ or sisters’ education.

Another scenario that plays into these children having to work includes the laziness of the parents. Although this is not as common as others, it is a sad fact that this sometimes happens. Sometimes parents are extremely lazy and feel that it is better to send their daughter or son to go and work in their place.

Solutions

 

Many government officials are taking this issue to heart, and programs are being set up to combat child labor. The Philippine Department of Education signed an agreement with the World Vision Development Foundation. Called the ABK2 Initiative, it is a program that is bringing Filipino children back to the classrooms by means of public awareness and mobilize resources to combat this problem. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Program for the Elimination of Child labor (IPEC) are also working with the Department of Education to combat the problem. They are doing this by using civil society to demand better treatment for these young workers.

 

The non-governmental programs have also made a splash within the country. One of the more eccentric ones is the Kamalayan Development Center; they work to receive information on companies that are exploiting children and host raids to expose them. Even though this is a little unconventional, it can be affective. They also work to get kids off the streets by providing temporary homes for them in hopes of preventing the kids from getting jobs to pay for necessary expenses such as food and shelter.

 

 Conclusion

 

                For this project, my partner and I have really grown attached to the suffering children. During this whole ordeal, we researched multiple sources, made a youtube video to spread the message and are also currently in the process of making our school aware of this serious issue.

                For our research, it was shocking what we actually found. We started how most people start a research project by looking on the internet for information. We just got a basic overview at first, but as we progressed, we dug in a lot deeper and started looking at government websites to get actual statistics and facts. We also looked through some books on the subject, but it was difficult because it seemed to be a little dated and we had gotten more recent facts off of the websites. For the social piece of this, we had asked two native Filipinos about what they thought of this issue, and our findings were quite surprising. It seemed as though they saw it as an everyday occurrence instead of a problem that needed to be solved. This helped to expand our knowledge on every aspect of child labor.

                For the youtube video, we collected all of the most important statistics and found appalling pictures to put together in hopes of creating a reaction with the public to spark some empathy which could then be turned into action. The song we chose was a Malaysian choir of children singing the lyrics of “God yu tekkem laef blong mi” which translated means “Lord, save us from the trials of life.” We thought this was absolutely perfect because of its message and the fact that children were singing it. All of the photos taken were from flickr.com which are allowed to be used for commercial purposes.

                The most crucial element to the whole project was to spread the awareness of child labor within our own school. We decided to not only raise awareness but to also raise some funds to go to scholarships for struggling families in the Philippines through Wish4Kids. We cut out puzzle pieces and we plan to go around the school selling photos to be put on these puzzle pieces which will eventually be put onto a bulletin board and displayed around the school. Our tagline for this will be “a piece of the solution. Using a bulletin board will be to our advantage because we will be able to move its location and spread awareness throughout the whole school instead of just one area. Our price will be a flat charge of S$2.00 and we hope to sell at least 200 photos. We plan to sell them over 5 school days during breaks between class and during lunch.

 

[i] “Child Labor in the Philippines: A Review of Selected Studies and Policy Papers”

[ii] “Child Labor”

[iii] “ILO says child labor remains rampant in Philippines”

[iv] “The Manila Times International”

[v] “The US Department of Labor: Philippines”

[vi]  “IPEC Philippines”

[vii]  “The Manila Times International”

[viii]  The US Department of Labor “The Philippines”

 

Child Labor in the Philippines : Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

Joselyn- Audrey’s helper who has lived in the Philippines and can therefore give us her point of view on               the topic.

Mrs. Ruhter- She is Filipino and will possibly give us photos and videos of the Philippines. She will also    help us transport the donations we raise to the children living there for scholarships.

 

 

 

Secondary Sources

“ILO says child labor remains rampant in Philippines,” from Asia Pacific [Web], written June 12, 2008,                       retrieved on September 15, 2008 from                 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1410713.php/ILO_says_chil                d_labour_remains_rampant_in_Philippines

 

There is an estimated 774,000 child laborers in the country and about 98,000 of them are between 9 and 5. Says Filipino children have to work because their parents can’t afford to support the family. Although the government is trying to help, it is getting hard because of the widespread affecting 88 million people there.

 

 

 

“End child labor, bring them back to school- Lapus,” from The Official Website Of The Republic Of The    Philippines, written September 5, 2008, retrieved on September 15, 2008, from                 http://www.philippinechildrensfoundation.org/childlabor.shtml

 

The Department of Education is sending 800,000 Filipino children back to school. ABK2 Initiative is a four year program funded by the US Department of Labor that aims to reduce the exploitation of child workers. 16% of all children in the Philippines are classified as child laborers. Of these, about 670,000 attend both work and school. The DepEd is also trying to follow non traditional organizations to help the students who have been overlooked before.

 

 

 

“Deal  linked to help end child labor” from Sunstar Manila, written Sept. 8, 2008, retrievd on Sept. 15,     2008 from                 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2008/09/08/news/deal.linked.to.help.end.child.labor.h             tml

 

This site shows how children should in fact, be at school, and not working as child laborers. The Department of Education made an agreement with the World Vision Development Foundation to campaign  to put and end to child labor. Must raise public awareness and promote school attendance, as well as combat child labor. Contains statistics of the number of children that went to school in the last couple of years, and the statistics of those who were not.

 

 

 

“Philippines: Banana sub-contractors for Dole Foods hire child labor” from Fresh Plaza, written on Aug. 22, 2007, retrieved on Sept. 15, 2008, from                 http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=6223

This site shows how popular foods are still being collected barbarically. Some make around 50-70 pesos a day, but it depends on what job they have. Some have to transport, and others have to carry and get the bananas. One child has to tie up 105 trees every day so that the trees don’t fall over the weight of the bananas. They are put in an environment filled with chemicals such as pesticides and some, those who are fortunate enough to get one, have a small mask over their face.

 

 

 

All Pictures used are courtesy of Flickr.com

 

 

 

Pictures During the Fundraiser

 

 

 

 

 

    

                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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