COTABATO CITY — In an effort to combat child labor and provide economic alternatives for families, 22 households in the region received a P15,000 cash grant each as part of the Bangsamoro Child Labor Sagip Program by the Ministry of Labor and Employment-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MoLE-BARMM).
The financial assistance — distributed to parents and guardians of rescued child laborers — aims to support small entrepreneurial projects, preventing the forced employment of underage family members.
“We have an extensive campaign against child labor and the use of children as combatants, and this is one of the projects intended to address such problems, which are imminent in many parts of the region due to poverty,” said BARMM Labor Minister Muslimin G. Sema in a statement on Thursday.
Nurhaifa E. Gunda, guardian of her eight-year-old niece who used to sell plastic bags at the market, plans to utilize the P15,000 for a small fruit juice business in their village. Morsalin N. Salik, whose seven-year-old son sold fruits on the streets, intends to start cooking viands for daily sale to neighbors.
Mr. Sema said his office collaborates with the International Labour Organization of the United Nations, the Japanese government, and the non-government organization Integrated Resource Development for Tri-People to address the persistent issue of child labor in the Bangsamoro region.
BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, which continue to grapple with the effects of decades of secessionist conflicts and underdevelopment. — John Felix M. Unson
