THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment vowed anew to give priority to programs that aim to stop child labor.

During the 3rd Anniversary Celebration of the Institutionalization of the National Council against Child Labor, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that they presented to Congress the agency’s programs to eradicate child labor in the country.

“Ang inyong lingkod ay humarap sa Kongreso upang ipresenta ang mga proyekto at programa ng Kagawaran na nais nating matutukan ng pansin at pondo ng administrasyon na ito. Ikinagagalak kong ibahagi na ang isyu ng pagsugpo sa child labor ay kabilang sa ating isinusulong na priority programs,” Laguesma said.

The DOLE-Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns leads the implementation of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor.

It aims to transform the lives of child laborers, their families and communities through protection, withdrawal, reintegration into a caring society, and poverty reduction measures.

DOLE earlier said that more than 90,000 children have been rescued from doing harmful work since it started profiling child laborers in 2018.

The initiative aims to create a database that will serve as a basis for providing appropriate services and interventions necessary to eliminate child labor.