Anti-child labor task force rescue minors
by Gerardo M. Nicolas (DOLE-RO-2)

Volume V, Number I, June 2005 Issue

The future is no longer bleak for nine former child laborers.

The Provincial Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children (PSCWC) in Nueva Vizcaya raided videoke bars  to rescue minors.

DOLE-RO2 Regional Director Nathaniel V. Lacambra and OIC-Assistant Regional Director Pio P. Bautista led the task force.  The DOLE-Nueva Vizcaya staff and Labor Inspectors, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) personnel together with the NBI operatives were able to cover 22 establishments during the operations conducted on 7 October 2004, which started at 10:00 in the evening.

The operations resulted to the rescue of 26 suspected minors.  They were brought, together with their guardians and parents, at the NBI office for investigation by the PSWDO.  After a rigid interview, 12 of them were brought to the custody of the PSWDO to undergo medical examination.  Dr. Jesus Tiam of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) confirmed that 9 of them were really minors based from their dental examination.  These minors will be rehabilitated through the DSWD’s child protection program.

Meanwhile, Labor Inspectors noted various violations on General Labor Standards including SSS and Phil-Health coverage, Occupational Safety and Health Standards of the Labor Code of the Philippines and on the provisions of R.A. No. 9231.

The employers of these 9 minor workers will be facing charges for violating R.A. No. 9231 otherwise known as “An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child.”