MANILA, Philippines — There are nearly a million working children in the country in 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“According to the PSA, the total number of working children considered engaged in child labor was estimated at 935,120 in 2021. This was higher than the 596,919 reported number of child laborers in 2020,” Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte said in a statement.
Duterte also noted that “across regions, Northern Mindanao had the highest share to the country’s child laborers at 14.8 percent as of October 2021.”
Data from the Department of Labor and Employment also showed there are more than 20,000 child laborers profiled in the Davao region in the last four years.
“The incidence of child labor in many parts of the globe, including the Philippines, has tremendously increased over the years. This is an alarming trend. Children should be in classrooms to learn, and not in factories or out in the fields to earn,” Duterte said.
He added that he plans to assist parents of child workers to eliminate child labor in Davao City.