MORE than 50,000 children have been withdrawn from child labor, but the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is still far from achieving its target.
In a virtual press briefing, Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) Director Karen Trayvilla said 56,272 children have been withdrawn from child labor.
The target based on Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, however, is to remove 630,000 children from child labor by 2022.
Trayvilla explained that the low success rate is due to the extensive process needed.
"The process of withdrawal is really lengthy. It takes us two years to do that," said Trayvilla.
"We need to closely monitor the provision of services to the children until the time we can say he/she has already withdrawn," she added.
Trayvilla also noted that of the total targets, they have been able to profile a total of 266,873 child laborers.
Among those profiled, 251,132 have been referred for appropriate services.
The labor official said their efforts to address the child labor problem in the country have been hampered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
"When the community quarantines were imposed, our profiling was stopped," she said.
"Our referral for interventions, however, were continuous for child laborers," added Trayvilla. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)