ILO set to launch ‘Batang Malaya’ on June 26

Monday 28th of May 2012

QUEZON CITY, May 28 (PIA) -- The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) will launch the nationwide “BATANG MALAYA: Child labour free Philippines” campaign on June 26, 2012, Tuesday at the Fun Ranch Tiendesitas Frontera Verde Ortigas Avenue corner C5 in Pasig City.

A press release from the International Labour Organization (ILO) said the campaign will be launched exactly two weeks after the June 12 World Day against Child Labour.

ILO said the campaign will support the Philippines’ commitment to reduce the worst forms of child labour by 75 per cent in 2015 and contribute to meeting the global goal of ending the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

The campaign will kick-off with a march against child labour at 6:00 a.m. The pit stops will symbolically bring back the lost childhood of former child labourers by allowing them to play and to have free access to health and education.

After the march, a forum will be held at 9:00 a.m. The National Statistics Office will release preliminary results of the latest Survey on Children, which will provide an overview of whether child labour cases have increased or decreased after 10 years.

The last Survey on Children released in 2001 or a decade ago, revealed a total 4 million working children aged 5-17 years old, of which 2.4 million were
exposed to hazardous working conditions. (ILO/RJB/JRCA/PIA-NCR)