Wednesday, June 25, 2008 'Angel Tree' launched in fight vs child labor
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Labor officials in Central Mindanao on Thursday launched "Project Angel Tree" in this city in a bid to free children from the bondage of labor.
The launching of the project in the region coincided with the country's observance of its 110th Independence Day anniversary.
Ma. Gloria A. Tango, Department of Labor and Employment director for Central Mindanao, said the country hopes to eliminate child labor through the Philippine Program Against Child Labor.
"Project Angel Tree is a vehicle for providing child laborers and their families' wishes for assistance. The wishes may come in the form of food, clothing, livelihood, education, training and medical assistances, counseling and mentoring," she said.
The project aims to encourage the community, represented by the Angel Tree, in giving relief to the sufferings of child laborers and their families, she said.
The labor department will serve as broker between child laborers in need of assistance and those willing to extend the needed assistance, Tango added.
The labor executive said the city social welfare office here has initially identified 40 child laborers "whose needs were written in a wish registry."
Angel Tree, according to the labor department, is a symbolic tree that "bears fruits for child laborers." The fruits will come in many forms, as child laborers are as diverse as their needs.
This means the Angel Tree represents a broad array of social services that will be made available to child laborers.
Its objective is to improve the conditions of child laborers by providing them even for their most basic needs.
It also seeks to educate bystanders and transform them into allies and advocates of child labor elimination.
Tango appealed to business companies, employees and civic organizations to support the Angel Tree project to contain incidence of child labor in the area.
Incidentally, in 2002, the International Labor Organization (ILO) declared June 12 as World Day Against Child Labor.
ILO director general Juan Somavia said the event is commemorated around the world "to help spread the message that child labor remains a serious problem and that we must do more to combat it."
This year's theme -- "Education is the right response to child labor" -- focuses on the importance of education as a major strategy in preventing and eliminating child labor, Tango said. (BSS)
