BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 6 (Western Visayas) has partnered with Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), operator of Ceres Liner buses, in providing assistance to rescued child laborers in Western Visayas.
The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement led by DOLE-6 Regional Director Johnson Cañete and Hernan Omecillo, VTI vice president for administration and management information system, was held on Tuesday at the department’s provincial office here.
The partnership is the first of its kind in terms of measures to address child labor problems in the country, Cañete said.
It is part of the implementation of “Bring Home a Child” program under the DOLE’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP).
The CLPEP seeks to prevent and eliminate child labor through protection, withdrawal, healing and reintegration of child workers into a caring society.
Under the agreement, the labor department will act as the “main actor” along with other partner-agencies comprising the Committee for the Rights of Children in validating reports on child labor and conducting actual rescue operations.
As a partner, VTI will provide free transportation services to rescued child laborers to make sure that they are sent back home.
“This is a model initiative which we want other regions to replicate,” Cañete said.
He said the DOLE-6 would provide a copy the agreement to the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns.
Cañete added that the partnership addresses the gap in terms of transporting rescued children since the DOLE has no specific allocation for such expenses.
Omecillo said their agreement with the agency is a fulfillment of the company’s social commitment and responsibility.
He added that VTI is interested to expand the partnerships with other DOLE regional offices.
“We will provide free transportation services in any areas where our units exist,” he added.
Child laborers are those 17 years old and below being exposed to hazardous works especially among industries like mining, pyrotechnics, fishing, agriculture, among others.
In Western Visayas, alone there are almost 172,000 child laborers as of 2011, agency records showed. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
