COMMITMENT. Sandra Delfin of the Department of Labor and Employment in Negros Oriental and Dahlia Cabristante, focal person for the children’s program of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, during a Kapihan forum in Dumaguete City on Tuesday (June 9, 2026). The officials said interventions from government and non-government sectors, information and education campaigns, and livelihood assistance, have helped reduce the number of child laborers in the province. (PNA photo by Mary Judaline Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Due to aggressive and sustained efforts to combat worse forms of child labor, the number of young people working in hazardous environments in Negros Oriental has declined, authorities said on Tuesday.
Sandra Delfin, senior labor and employment officer of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Negros Oriental, said at a forum here that the decline was due to government and private interventions, heightened awareness, and education of child laborers and their parents.
“Our aggressive approach now is to monitor profiled child laborers from last year, locating them and referring them to other agencies,” Delfin said.
“We have seen a significant reduction in child labor because of our advocacy in these areas, through the assistance of our local government units (LGUs).”
Records from the DOLE-Negros Oriental Field Office here showed that in 2025, profiled child laborers in Negros Oriental included 1,481 females and 1,994 males, or a total of 3,475.
Majority of these individuals were from Bindoy, Manjuyod, Mabinay, Siaton, and Sta. Catalina, and most of them belonged in the agriculture sector, specifically, sugarcane plantations.
For this year, monitoring focused on just a few areas since February, such as La Libertad and Tayasan, and so far, a total of 1,994 have been profiled.
These include 751 males and 543 females.
Also, based on the agency’s monitoring of last year’s profiled child laborers, 242 had already aged out, 2,982 have voluntarily withdrawn, and only roughly 200 child laborers remain.
Delfin said the withdrawal was due to the advocacies, awareness, and continuing education on child labor, and livelihood assistance from DOLE and other agencies.
Gov’t programs
Dahlia Cabristante, focal on children’s program of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), said at the same forum that the provincial government has various programs for eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
These include the training of child development teachers and workers on knowledge, attitude, and skills in improving the awareness and responsibility of parents of child laborers.
She said the province also allocated a budget for the organization of the youth in the province and providing skills training for the young individuals to help parents earn a modest income while continuing their studies.
Meanwhile, the DOLE in Negros Oriental will hold its Program Angel Tree on Thursday in Manjuyod town in celebration of World Day Against Child Labor.
Delfin said 150 profiled child laborers and 50 parents will benefit from the activity that includes the distribution of food stuff, hygiene kits, protective gear like boots and raincoats, Batang Pinoy games, and many others.
This is in partnership with the PSWDO, the Manjuyod LGU, and other stakeholders.
The DOLE official underscored the importance of ongoing awareness regarding the situation of child laborers even though there has been a notable reduction in child labor problems, adding this awareness must be sustained. (PNA)
