ALTHOUGH a law prohibits the employment of persons below 15 years old, this poverty stricken nation of more than 90 million people is teeming with child workers.

Due to grinding poverty, which has been forcing more and more to seek employment abroad, parents encourage their children to stop going to school and just look for jobs.

And it is certainly sickening to note that some of these minors are engaged in hazardous work and, in some instances, even commit heinous crimes. Allowing children to be exploited and abused is unconscionable.

Thus, we support the view of a group of legislators, including Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, that if we are to eradicate child labor, the government must first address the problem of widespread poverty in the country.

“These minors need to enjoy their childhood… develop mentally and physically under the care of their parents,” said Romualdez, a banker, educator, and lawyer who champions the cause of the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the youth.

The freshman solon from Leyte called on the Department of Labor and Employment to go after fireworks factories in Bulacan that continue to employ the services of minors.

Sharing Romualdez’ sentiments are An Waray Rep. Florencio Noel, Taguig-Pateros Rep. Lani Cayetano, and Rep. Joel Villanueva of the Citizens Battle Against Corruption.

Despite the fact that the country is a signatory to many international laws and conventions on child labor, there are still unscrupulous employers who capitalize on the children’s docility and illiteracy to make them do dehumanizing and hazardous work on starvation pay.

Villanueva said this systematic exploitation renders children physically and mentally impaired.

We concede that poor families have no choice but to require their kids to work to enable them to survive today’s high cost of living.

But the government will court public disenchantment and unpopularity if it ignores the plight of the country’s child workers.

It’s time to intensify the nationwide campaign against child abuse and child exploitation.

DESPITE the government’s nationwide campaign against child exploitation, the Philippines is still teeming with child workers, who are forced to drop out of school not only in the countryside but also in Metropolitan Manila and other urban centers across the country.

Clearly, the sight of thousands of such children, working as scavengers, farmers, vendors, barkers and laborers, suggests that grinding poverty remains a major problem of the government in a country where corruption is pervasive and deep-rooted.

We agree with Keiko Numi, a regional official of the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, that when families have limited resources, children as young as five are forced to work at the cost of dropping out of school, risking their health or even their lives.

The poor must often choose whether to educate their children or send them to work to help support the family, said the ILO official during a ceremony held in Manila last Thursday to mark World Day Against Child Labor.

Although the number of Filipino children in the labor force declined from 913,000 in 2003 to 774,00 in 2005, education department data showed that the school participation rate dropped to a seven-year low of 38.22 percent in the 2006-2007 school year, said Numi.

It is lamentable that in some areas, children attending schools walk long distances, lack quality instruction and study materials and often have to study in poor physical facilities because of lack of financial resources.

In a speech, the UN official underscored the need to ensure that child laborers are successfully integrated in schools and that they do not return to work until they grow up and acquire education and training.

Should the state allow the country’s youth to join the labor force to supplement the family income? We do not think so. It’s incumbent upon the authorities to implement pro-poor programs designed to give child workers access to education.

But it is heartening to note that the country has launched a four-year project to raise school enrolment levels in areas that have a high incidence of child labor. The project will be implemented in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Leyte, Davao del Sur and Compostela Valley.

A project of the Department of Labor and Employment, World Vision Development Foundation and the Christian Children’s Fund, the program aims to educate the children and provide the parents with income sources.

We cannot afford to have an oversupply of school dropouts and child workers if we are to join the world’s fraternity of economic giants.