COTABATO CITY 鈥 The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Navy鈥檚 Philippine Marine Corps are the latest addition to the large group addressing child labor and use of children as combatants in Mindanao.
In workshops that began this week, representatives of the PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the 1st Marine Brigade pledged to support the campaign being pushed forward by the Bangsamoro labor ministry, the International Labor Organization (ILO), the government of Japan, the Integrated Resource Development for Tri-people, and the Development Academy of the Bangsamoro.
Poverty and underdevelopment due to decades of secessionist strife and children鈥檚 lack of access to schools are blamed for the widespread child labor problem BARMM.
The ILO, which is an agency of the United Nations, the United Nations Children鈥檚 Fund, and Japan are the main benefactors of the cross-section efforts to address the problem in BARMM鈥檚 six provinces and three cities.
鈥淚t is a concerted effort. It鈥檚 gaining headway,鈥 said Bai Sara Jane S. Sinsuat, director of the Ministry of Labor and Employment-BARMM鈥檚 Bureau of Employment, Promotion and Welfare. 鈥 John Felix M. Unson
