Issue of child labor in the Philippines

Introduction

Poverty is the main reason that millions of Philippines children away from normal life, parents rob their children to save the life of the whole family. Instead of enriching their innocent minds are left out of school to work like donkeys in a responsibility that should be their parents. Many have to risk their health and safety to bring food to the table in addition to sacrifice their dignity to earn some money. It is a fact that child labor is considered a major problem in the Philippines. Currently there are 2.4 million child laborers in the country, says the International Labour Organization (ILO). He adds that some Philippine industries using child labor.

The textile industry has taken advantage of child labor for years. According to studies, children are those who sew, cut, bend, washed, and packed the clothes. It is known that these children generally worked long hours but are paid less than the minimum. Those who work in garment factories complain of lack of sleep, fatigue, colds, cough, headache, cramps in the fingers and legs, allergy textile dust and eye fatigue.

Philippine furniture is of good quality. Unfortunately this industry is also guilty of recruiting children to save on labor. These young people usually are responsible for assembling the furniture, chairs made of woven rattan material or application of varnish. This type of work they are subjected to inhalation of wood dust that accumulates due to lack of ventilation. While some suffer from skin diseases, respiratory irritation and vision problems. Since 1992, the mining industry has contributed to the progress of the nation. However, the alleged packers are children, the same as carrying bags packed down the mountain where there is a reservoir. As one worker said there was a time when hundreds of children stopped going to school to be packed with gold and silver in exchange for 40 to 50 pesos (less than a dollar) a day.

Discussion and Analysis

Poverty is the reason for child labor in Philippines. The meager incomes of child laborers is also absorbed by their families, the paucity of organized banking in the rural areas creates a void in taking facilities, forcing poor families to push their children in harsh labor, the harshest being bonded labor. The conditions that the children work on are horrible; they are abused physically and mentally by their employers. Bonded child labor refers to the phenomenon of children working in conditions of servitude in order to pay off a debt. Bonded Labor traps the growing child in a hostage like conditions for years. The arrangements between the parents and the contracting agents are usually informal and unwritten (Montgomery, 2007, p.414).

The number of years required to pay off such a loan is indeterminate. Sometimes children are abandoned by their parents or sold to factory owners. The majority of children wok in industries, such as, diamond polishing, carpet weaving. Early 1990s, it was estimated that close to one million children were working as ...