Showing posts with label cheap labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheap labor. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Four million Filipino child-laborers

9/05/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


With the objective to lower down the incidence of exploitation and child labor in the Philippines, the ABK2, a project funded by the US Department of Labor recently helped in rescuing about 6,800 child laborers--- at least 1,984 in in Cebu and 4,863 in Negros Oriental.

The children were removed from difficult and hazardous working conditions and were offered some education through the coordinated work of the World Vision Development Foundation, ChildFund International (formerly known as Christian Children’s Fund), and ERDA.

Child Laborers at a Glance:

Number: 4 million child laborers

Ages: 5-17 years old

Work Hours:
1 to 4 hours---2 million;
5-8 hours---1.3 million;
8 hrs plus---360,000

Areas of employment:
Scavenging
Prostitution
Agriculture
Fishing
Quarry &Mining
Domestic work

Education:
No schooling: 1.3 million

Before their rescue, the children were engaged in scavenging, peddling sex and drugs, doing domestic work, working in mines, fishing, agriculture, and quarry. They were part of an estimated 4 million children between ages 5 to 17 years in the labor force around the country.

A third of these children (1.3 million) do not attend school. Of those who attend school, they face problems such as learning difficulties, lack of school supplies, unsupportive teachers, and lack of time to study.

“In Negros Oriental, 4,591 children who were working in sugarcane plantations were pulled out from their workplace, followed by 162 kids in domestic work and 110 child laborers from commercial agriculture.

Nationwide, the project has rescued and assisted 23,095 child laborers. But ABK2 Project Director Daphne Culanag said the figure is insignificant compared to the estimated four million child laborers around the country. “The figure is just a drop in the bucket of the four million child laborers we want to help,”---Manila Bulletin (09/04/09, Mosqueda, MW Jr.)

The staggering number of children being exploited in the country belies the progress that is usually harped by the government. Social inequity has trickled in among the most vulnerable in society. In spite of efforts to generate jobs locally and abroad, the need for work to survive has forced young boys and girls to forgo their childhood, be independent, and help in keeping the family alive. (Photo Credit: Claude Barutel) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon For lack of local jobs, Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo asks Filipinos to leave for employment abroad

3/02/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
Without enough jobs available locally, Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo continues to call on her people to pursue jobs abroad. About 500,000 employment positions, mainly in construction are available in the Middle East, Australia, and Canada.

This is the recommendation of the country's president (the "top economist and chief executive officer") for the employment-seekers present in a job summit at the Malacanang Palace.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Augusto Syjuco advises Filipinos to take alternative courses in butchery, tile-laying, roofing, carpentry and other menial jobs just to survive in a growing economic crisis.

Something is wrong with their recommendations. The policy of sending Filipinos outside has drifted away from the task of government to provide livelihood for its people. For the government to adopt a policy of encouraging talents to leave the country is objectionable.

An estimated 9 million Filipinos are currently working abroad to support families and help avert the financial collapse of the country. Government critics complain that more Filipinos will be separated from their families and placed in risky conditions as a consequence of being forced to leave the country.

There is sadness in seeing a president advise its people to take menial work abroad as a way to build a nation back home---much more sadness in seeing officials propose second courses in preparation for jobs availabe outside. (Photo Credit: Mark Hillary) =0=

RELATED BLOG: "Who says we are spared from the effects of recession?" Posted by mesiamd at 2/27/2009

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PostHeaderIcon Will RP’s milking cows bring dairy on “Zero Remittance Day”?

10/20/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
October 29, 2008 has been chosen by an alliance of 112 organizations worldwide to protest the “forced migration and systemic exploitation of cheap labor.” Dubbed as the “Zero Remittance Day,” the sobering event is timely when a sovereign country like the Philippines has resorted to send its most precious human asset abroad----the young men and women who are forced to seek menial jobs abroad and bring the needed dollars to shore up the economy. For being a major source of government funds, overseas foreign workers (OFW’s) are regarded as RP’s milking cows.

According to the International Migrants Alliance (IMA,) the protest action coincides with holding of the Global Forum on Migrant Development (GFMD,) which will be in Manila, Philippines. The IMA lambasts GFMD for being an elitist organization which fails to tackle the fundamental problems and issues concerning the growing number of migrants who suffer exploitation, abuses on the job, cheap labor compensation and family displacement. (Photo Credit: blinkdesigns.org) =0=
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