CEBU CITY—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) cautioned firms against employing minors and exposing them to any work or economic activity that subjects them to any form of exploitation.
DOLE-7 Director Exequiel Sarcauga said the government has already expanded the coverage of the ban on the employment of minors.
In a department order recently issued by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, the guidelines in assessing and determining hazardous work in the employment of persons below 18 years old have been amended.
“The DOLE is now more stringent and precise in determining activities that would form part of the worst forms of child labor. Apart from the ones mentioned in Department Order [DO] 149, Series of 2016, additional activities that would constitute child labor have been identified in the new issued by the secretary,” Sarcauga said.
Under DO 149-A, Series of 2017, farming activities, such as grafting; budding and marcotting; and tending activities that involve weeding of soil, are now among the worst forms of child labor. Other farm activities that would fall under the same category included clearing of land, plowing, harrowing, irrigating, constructing paddy dike and cutting.
Also considered hazardous are handling, spraying and application of harmful fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals, and loading and carrying of heavy loads.
“We want all sectors informed and educated by this new order, especially those in the agricultural sector. Asking children to help out in the farms, especially in the provinces, is very common. We want everybody to know that there are certain activities that minors are not allowed to engage with, even if the intention is helping the family,” Sarcauga said.
He said minors are also not allowed to join in harvesting activities that involve cutting and picking; spreading for drying; hauling; topping; tumbling; tuxying; stripping; burning of field; sticking and classifying; threshing; loading; and carting of produce.
The new DO also specifies that during postharvest, minors should not be employed in dehusking; scooping; sacking of products; charcoal making; hauling of products as led by animal guide; loading and unloading of packed farm products; coconut kilning and demeating from shell or core; sealing and carting of produce for warehousing; and transport to market, and all ancillary work, such as clearing cleaning, and recycling of farm waste in its preparation as animal food and other related processes.
“In livestock farming, activities that are declared hazardous to minors are rearing, such as collecting, loading, unloading and transporting of feeds; maintenance and care of large and/or dangerous animals; collecting and disposal of dead animals, animal manure and other waste materials; administering of vaccines and vitamins; and handling of disinfectants used for cleaning animal pens and enclosures or for disinfecting animals,” Sarcauga added.
Also not allowed are harvesting activities that involve catching or collecting; ranching and milking in preparation for warehousing or transport to market; and postharvest activities, including the packaging and processing of dairy and other animal by-products in preparation for warehousing and transport to market; and working in slaughterhouses or abattoirs.
He said any person who violates, or the employer of the subcontractor who employs, or the one who facilitates the employment of a child in hazardous work shall suffer the penalty of a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P1 million, or imprisonment of not less than 12 years, and one day to 20 years, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.
In support of the government’s advocacy against child labor, the DOLE-7 last month facilitated the conduct of Project Angel Tree, a component of the DOLE Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program, which provides an array of social services that range from food, clothing, educational assistance or school supplies, and even work and training opportunities made available by sponsors or benefactors to child laborers and their families.
The activity, which took place at the Cebu City Sports Complex, gathered around 117 children, who received goodies, rice, clothing, shoes, slippers and educational supplies from donors.