Northern Samar pushes anti-child labour ordinance

Governor Paul Daza has committed to speed up the approval of the ordinance and to allocate funds once approved. The governor aims to make the province child labour-free by 2013.

A provincial ordinance in Northern Samar is set to be implemented to put an end to child labour. The ordinance, entitled “An Ordinance Defining and Penalizing Child Labour in Northern Samar, and for Other Purpose”, is expected to serve legal framework of efforts to eliminate child labour cases in the province.

The ordinance was discussed in a consultation spearheaded by the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), through an Action Programme implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office in Region 8. The consultation was held on 8-12 November 2010.

The ordinance is geared to improve operations of the newly-formed Northern Samar Child Labor Committee by providing it with the legitimacy in implementing programmes. An important feature of the ordinance is the call for an annual share in the provincial government’s General Annual Fund Budget for implementation. The ordinance helps sustain efforts through integrating the child labour agenda in the legislative and development framework.