Philippines wants to end child labour in 2015

Manila The government has called on various agencies including non-government organisations and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to help end by 75 per cent child labour practices in the Philippines by 2015, a senior official said.

“We have to meet the global deadline of ending the worst forms of child labour by 2016,” said Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

The labour department’s National Child Labour Committee (NCLC) and the ILO called for the inclusion of child-labour related questions during surveys for the government to help get the real profile of worst forms of child labour (in the Philippines) as defined by ILO Convention 182, said Baldoz, adding, “These questions were not asked during surveys made from 1995 to 2001.”

The NCLC and the ILO proposed this plan when they drafted an inter-agency action for July 2012 to June 2016, said Baldoz, adding the ultimate aim is to institutionalise surveys on children and monitor child labour in unregulated sectors.

The government will also work with schools, said Baldoz, adding, “We found out that 69.5 per cent of 5.5 million child labourers still go to school. (Working for) their retention in school and bringing back to school the 30.5 per cent of the 5.5 million child workers require very focused and serious effort.’