120 child laborers rescued in BARMM
COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — At least 120 children forced into labor because of poverty were rescued in this city and in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), labor officials said.
The Bangsamoro Ministry of Labor and Employment (Mole) deployed teams to rescue the children from child labor on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bangsamoro Labor Minister Muslimin Sema said the rescued child laborers will undergo a rehabilitation program and receive cash assistance.
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He added that the children were either forced to work for their daily needs or to help augment their poor parents’ income.
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READ: Dole: Over 200,000 kids pulled out of child labor over past 3 years
“These child laborers were found working in the markets and vending various merchandise in the streets,” Sema said in a statement.
Orientation
The child laborers, a mix of boys and girls, were brought to the Mole-BARMM office on Wednesday for an orientation on the ministry’s activities addressing child labor across the region.
The Bangsamoro region comprises the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, the seat of power of the BARMM government.
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Bai Sara Jane Sinsuat, Mole Bureau of Employment Promotion and Welfare Division chief, facilitated the orientation activity for rescued child laborers and provided them with school bags, supplies and cash.
Sinsuat said the children’s parents or guardians also attended an informal workshop under the “Bangsamoro Child Labor Sagip Program” (BCLSP).
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She said that each of the rescued 121 child laborers, 84 of them from Maguindanao del Norte, was granted P15,000 cash assistance via their parents and guardians.
The BCLSP program has benefited 3,781 child laborers across BARMM in the past three years.
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Sinsuat said they are now studying in government schools across BARMM. /cb
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