Parents of child laborers in AgSur provided with emergency employment

Some four hundred sixtythree (463) parents of child laborers (CLs) from the various ocal government units of this province were provided with emergency employment through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

Of the 463 beneficiaries, 173 are residents of La Paz, 85 are from Bayugan City, 55 from San Francisco and 50 residents from Talacogon, 50 from San Luis, and 50 also from Rosario. The selected priority areas of implementation are identified with a high number of profiled CLs in the province based on the on-site houseto-house profiling conducted by the DOLE.

Juana de la Cruz, not her real name, a mother of a 17-year-old CL engaged in quarry works expressed her gratitude for being chosen as one of the beneficiaries of TUPAD.

“Makatabang gyud ning TUPAD sa among pang adlaw adlaw nga gasto labi na nga nag balik na ang face to face classes. Maayo nalang naa mi ikagasto sa balay (TUPAD is really a big help to sustain our daily needs especially that face-to-face classes have resumed),” Cruz said.

The intervention to the parents of CLs was made possible through the partnership of DOLE Agusan del Sur Field Office (DOLE ADSFO) with the Provincial Public Service Office of Agusan del Sur (PESO ADS) headed by PESO Manager Divina P. Lagumbay. This initiative is also part of the Boyad Roadshow Culmination on November this year.

Both the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP), a program that conducts nationwide profiling of child laborers to identify the children who will be referred to appropriate agencies/organizations for the provision of necessary services/interventions to remove them from child labor, and TUPAD, a communitybased package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum of period of 10 days and maximum of 30 days, are core programs of DOLE that aim to uplift the lives of the marginalized sectors. (FLIP, CLPEP-CF/DOLE-ADSFO/PIAAgusan del Sur)