Child labor thrives in Ormoc’s sugar farms

ORMOC CITY, Leyte, March 4 (PNA) – Child labor continues to be a big problem here, according to Exodus from Child Labor to integration, Play, Socialization and Education (Eclipse).

The non-government organization launched its new project called “Mobilizing Child Labor Free Communities on Thursday.

With agriculture being the main source of livelihood, child labor remains to be a long standing issue in western Leyte.

There are 1,902 child workers in 66 sugarcane plantations here based on the post-Yolanda survey conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

International Labor Organization has identified sugarcane farming as the worst form of child labor in the Philippine setting, making it a priority. Landlords are known for hiring child laborers as young as seven years old because they are paid lower wages than their parents and elders.

Eclipse was able to obtain funding from Terre Des Hommes, an international charitable humanitarian umbrella organization based in the Netherlands that develops and implements projects designed to improve the living conditions of disadvantaged children. The project is good for January 2016-December 2018.

The project will be implemented in six northern villages namely Juaton, Valencia, Hibunaon, 

Cabulihan, Concepcion and Cagbuhangin. Target beneficiaries are children below 18 years old who are out of school and vulnerable to child labor as well as those who go to school but are at risk of child labor.

Supt. Elma delos Santos, deputy city police director said they were willing to deal with the problem of child labor by enforcing RA 7610 or the Anti Child Abuse Law, but there should be a formal complaint lodged in their office. This gap is what the project aims to address, among others. (PNA)
RMA/SQM/FELIX N. CODILLA/EGR