Jerome Aning, Inquirer, September 1, 2007, Manila, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment estimated the number of child workers at four million, but admitted that bringing down the number may be difficult because of hard times and a huge population that continues to expand.

Ma. Teresa Soriano, labor assistant secretary for especial concerns and external affairs, said Friday that more and more children were still being employed in various establishments and sectors nationwide, ironically because their parents could not themselves land jobs.

"While we implement intervention measures, [the reason for the still high number of child workers] is partly economic because many parents are not earning enough and the help of the children is needed especially in the provinces where child labor is being encouraged," Soriano said during the National Meeting on Child Labor held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) office in Quezon City.

Soriano also pinned the growing number of child laborers in the country on the high population growth rate. "A lot of babies are being born since we already have a large population, so definitely we'd have more child workers [in the future]."

She said that the government had been able to rescue or place under its protection over 42,000 child workers from 2000 to 2006, majority of them employed in hazardous jobs in mining, quarrying, plantations, night entertainment and explosives-manufacturing.

Despite the difficulties, she said, the government planned to rearrange its programs to make the Philippines "child labor-free" by 2015.

Labor officials, she added, would first coordinate with the National Statistics Office to conduct a separate survey among working children to give Dole a clear data base system.

"This data base will identify the worst and hazardous forms of child labor. These will help us decide which area or sector that have to be prioritized," Soriano said.

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