Fr. Shay Cullen's reflections

Fr. Shay Cullen outlines Preda Charity's work in Olongapo in helping sexually abused children in his recent Reflections at the Manila Times.

Six worst forms of child labor

Deep-sea fishing;

Commercial and sexual exploitation;

Sugar plantations;

Pyrotechnics production;

Mining and quarrying; and

Domestic work

There is a very sad story in every child labor. Share them here. We are all ears. And we are ready to help combat this abuse.

The morality of child labor

Sam Vaknin posts an intriguing piece The Morality of Child Labor at opednews.com;

Peter Magbanua reports on the 1999 Ms. Universe runner-up as our spokesperson at the Mindanao Times;

Ruby Silubrico writes that the DOLE strengthens laws, policies vs. child labor at Sunstar-Iloilo.

We can count on Susan "Toots" Ople

Pete,

Thanks for visiting my blog. I am encouraged by your comment.
Re child labor, that is one of my pet advocacies. Nung time ng dad ko as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, na-ratify ng RP yung ILO Convention on Child Labor. Please count on me for support in anything that has got to do with child labor, employment, migrant workers', human trafficking and functional literacy. Iyan ang mga really close to my heart.

Hope you don't mind -- I added your two blogs to my site. I hope you can read my column today in Panorama Magazine. If you are involved in the anti-chacha effort, please let me know so I can write about it there (pati na din any projects that you may have.)

Count me in as your friend and supporter. WIsh you the best always.

Your fellow blogger,

Toots

Visayas tops in news

Here are some reports that were published after the 1st National Media Summit on Child Labor:

Group urges a change in attitudes towards child labor by Kathy Villalon Cinco of Sunstar Iloilo;

Group seeks support to combat child labor a Sunstar Cebu;

Child labor cases in Visayas regions among the highest in RP by Carla Gomez of Visayan Daily Star of Bacolod;

More child workers in Oriental - study by Guillermo Tejida III also of Visayan Daily Star;

From Iloilo, Maricar M. Calubiran writes at The News Today with: Child labor laws not fully implemented, and Iloilo, Negros Occidental have worst child labor problems.

The Advocates

The "mother" Daphne de Guzman Culanag, (right) project director of the ABK-Initiative announces the designation of Ms. Miriam Quiambao as the new spokesperson of the anti-child labor campaign in the country.

Meet the new anti-child labor advocates from the Davao City media community led by Mindanao Times publisher Tita Josie San Pedro. (Photo courtesy of Anatess Basilio of the Mindanao Daily Mirrior/Mirror Bulletin)

Meet the mother

If I were the father of this blog, its mother is Daphne de Guzman Culanag.

Actually she is no mother at all having no kid of her own. But she is "big sister," "mother," and matter-of-fact admitted she is now a "grand mother" to street children and child labor victims.

The title of this blog I got from her. She narrated during the 1st National Media Summit on Child Labor last Wednesday her participation in a march to Geneva in 1998. She was with a group of child labor victims and advocates which marched from Pakistan, Iran and Geneva to shake the wits out of delegates of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the troubling plight of child labor abuse worldwide. They bannered the call "no more tools in my tiny hands!"

Daphne is the Project Director of the ABK Initiative - a program to combat child labor through education. It is supported by the US Department of Labor.

During the past two years, the program sent to school 28,000 working and at-risk children from eight target provinces, including Davao City and Davao del Sur.

Daphne has extensive work experience on children advocacy and was part of the group behind RA 7610 and RA 9231, national laws protecting children from abuse and exploitation, and prohibition of worst forms of child labor, respectively.

No more tools in my tiny hands

More than 300 mediapersons, anti-child labor advocates and government officials convened the 1st National Summit on Child Labor at the Century Park Hotel in Manila today and pushed for more awareness on this problem that involved millions of children.

Three break-out groups on media and government, media and community, and media and educators were unanimous in recommending fresh measures to curb rampant child labor abuses throughout the country.

At the closing of the one-day conference, beauty queen Ms. Miriam Quiambao accepted her new role as spokesperson of the child advocacy campaign.

The participants wrote their commitments in hand shape papers to manifest the sign - Stop child labor!

In my paper hand I wrote the following:

"I pledge to have a weblog dedicated to child labor issues.

No more tools in my tiny hands!

Kami ay mga bata, hindi mga manggagawa!

I want to study; I want to read!

I want to play."