THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Western Visayas has profiled 905 minors involved in or at risk of child labor between 2024 and 2025. On the surface, this marks significant progress from the staggering 16,200 cases recorded from 2018 to 2021, as reported by this paper yesterday. But behind the improved statistics lies a persistent and unsettling truth: child labor is still very much alive in our communities — and local government leaders must take a hard look at their role in this continuing failure.
Of the 905 profiled cases, the majority come from Antique (339) and Iloilo (306), followed by Negros Occidental (196), Aklan (40), Capiz (22), and Guimaras (2). These figures point not just to vulnerable children, but to specific towns, villages, and barangays where the rights of minors are being compromised — often under the watch of local officials who are either unaware, indifferent, or worse, complicit.
Child labor is a barangay-level reality, not merely a national or regional concern. And it is in the barangays, where children work the fields, wash dishes in eateries, or haul heavy loads on construction sites, that enforcement must begin.
DOLE has done its part by profiling at-risk children, conducting rescue operations, and rolling out the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program, which has already extended assistance to 284 beneficiaries. But DOLE cannot be everywhere. The anti-child labor laws — Republic Acts 7610 and 9231 — clearly state that local government units have a mandate to protect children from abuse, hazardous work, and exploitation. Where then are the mayors and barangay captains in this fight?
Too often, child labor is brushed aside as a matter of poverty or parental choice. But as DOLE Region 6 officer-in-charge Atty. Jorge Ferraris rightly said, “Most of them are working voluntarily to support their education, but this does not make it acceptable.” The law does not yield to economic justifications. Neither should our local leaders.
It is time we demand political will from the ground up. Barangay councils must actively identify working minors and coordinate with social workers. Mayors must prioritize child protection in their development plans, allocate resources for intervention, and issue clear directives to monitor compliance with child labor laws.
Child labor persists not because of policy gaps, but because of leadership gaps. The data shows us where the problems are. The question now is: who among our local officials will have the courage and compassion to act?
The protection of our children’s rights is not just a moral responsibility — it is a legal and political one. Western Visayas cannot claim progress while hundreds of children continue to be robbed of their childhoods, right in the shadows of government buildings.
It is time for accountability and leadership. And it must start at the barangay, town and city halls.
