|
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Children worked at night in pier
By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO CITY -- The children working in a private wharf in Davao City worked the night shift.
They ride on banana trucks from their homes during dusk and work until dawn. They then go home in time for classes the following day.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
Their take-home pay for the overnight labor: between P50 to P100, depending on the bulk of bananas they were able to file for the night.
This was learned from one of the 14 teenage boys rescued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the City Social Services and Development Office last Saturday at the Solid Lines Shipping compound in Ilang.
One of the boys, (Dodong), 13, said he works to help his parents earn.
Work at the pier is not daily, only every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
He, along with four other boys, would hitch a ride on a truck laden with bananas from their village in Carmen, Davao del Norte by early evening and file bananas unloaded from the trucks into crates until dawn.
He admitted that the area they work in is dimly lit and that heavy equipment passes around them, carrying stacks of crates and boxes.
He said does not know the other child workers, except the four who come from Carmen. All he can say is that there are many of them.
Just before daybreak, the children would be paid by a certain "kuya" and they would then board the same truck for Carmen.
Dodong told Sun.Star Davao that he was recruited by an uncle of his friend who was a worker at the pier.
He said he has been working at the pier for some time already but did not give a specific date as to when he started.
Dodong said he and his companions all go to school and that he works to help his family. He is the eldest of 10 children.
After the incident last Saturday, the Department of Labor and Employment is now investigating Solid Shipping Lines and determining the possible liabilities that the company might have to face.
The Davao City Council has tasked various government agencies to conduct an investigation into the incident. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (March 22, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Defense chief bucks UN probe on communist purges