A Case Study of the Living Conditions and Child Labor in San Benito, Victoria Laguna

Abstract

Child Labor is one of the most widespread problems in the Philippines, and also in most countries of the third world. It is the partaking of children in the production of goods and services. There is but a slight number of cases in the industrialized countries, however, there are millions of them in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Child labor had been depended upon, used and exploited since the Spanish colonization, and that the nature of their involvement in work had been in all major work sectors. Poverty is being charged of the crime as previous organizational studies put the blame on it. In different parts of the globe, poverty has been forcing minors to work, be it to meet the expenses of their family’s needs, or to just do so because the milieu tells them so. In some other children's cases, they need to work for their parents’ income aren’t enough for them to live through the day, while some just feel the need to do so because most of the kids their age are doing the same; either way, these children’s right to enjoy their childhood and of education is being grabbed from them. Contrary to what most working children thought it could do to them and/or their families, contrary to what they expected, contrary to what the recruiters say about it, child labor does not uplift the child and/or their families, it does not support their studies, and it does not lead to a bright future. In fact, it takes them away from their homes and deprives them of parental love, care and guidance. It uproots them away from their backyards and playground, and kills their socialization and the joy of relating and playing with their peers. It affects their education or worst, it deprives them of education. It deprives them of the opportunities for physical, mental, emotional, social, moral and spiritual development. As the great fighter for children’s rights Kailash Satyarthi of the India-based South Asian Coalition Against Child Servitude (SACCS) says, “it robs them off their childhood”.(Apit.1998). This case study aims to further widen the knowledge in the worsening problem of child labor in the Philippines. It would focus on one of the many unseen areas where the issue of child labor is also rampant, that is San Benito, Victoria Laguna. It would present some of the cases of children being exposed to heavy work, and deprived of their right to proper education as well. Government agencies’, as well as NGO programs and policies will be scrutinized whether they are put in action or not. The living conditions of the residents of the area would also be touched to examine the roots of the issue of child labor.