MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) renewed its call for collective action to save Filipino children from labor.
“Fair play for children, decent work for adults, remind us that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and enjoy their childhood — not to be encumbered with work,” DSWD Undersecretary Monina Josefina Romualdez said in a news release.
In observance of the World Day Against Child Labor on Friday, Romualdez said safeguarding children from child labor is a shared responsibility requiring whole-of-nation and whole-of-society support.
The department is implementing the Strategic Helpdesks for Information, Education, Livelihood, and Other Developmental Interventions (SHIELD) program.
The program provides holistic and immediate interventions at the community level to child laborers and their families.
These interventions include case management, educational assistance, livelihood assistance, and case referrals to other government agencies, among others.
“Through our SHIELD against child labor program and our broader social protection initiatives, we continue to support vulnerable children and their families, helping address the conditions that place children at risk,” Romualdez said.
From 2021 to 2025, some 14,112 child laborers were assisted by the program, of which 4,547 have been assessed to be free from any form of child labor. (PNA)
