The anti-child labor program, Pag-aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan-Livelihood, Education, Advocacy and Protection of the World Vision Development Foundation, will be intensified in five areas of Negros Oriental, a government press release said.

This was after the Mabinay, Manjuyod, Siaton, Sta. Catalina towns, and Tanjay City, committed to reduce the 1,990 child laborers identified to be working in sugarcane plantations in the province.

The focus barangays for ABK3 are Abis, Bagtic, Pantao and Tara in Mabinay; Alangilan, Maaslum and Mandalupang of Manjuyod; Canaway, Casalaan, Napacao and Tayak in Siaton; Caranoche, Kabulakan, Obat and Poblacion in Sta. Catalina; and Pal-ew, San Miguel, Sta. Cruz Nuevo of Tanjay, the press release also said.

ABK3-LEAP project director Daphne Culanag said the 18 barangays will receive assistance like direct education and support services for children aged 5 to 17-years-old in the sugarcane areas, for the next four years.

The LGUs pledged to strengthen and make their Barangay Council for the Protection of Children functional to promote children’s rights and programs. They will also provide technical assistance in organic farming and skills enhancement for sustainable livelihood and employment for parents and the youths, the press release said.

Aside from Negros Oriental, the project aims to assist 52,000 children and 25,000 families in the provinces of Batangas, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Bukidnon, North Cotabato and Davao del Sur.

The provinces were selected on the basis of sugarcane production, poverty incidence, size of rural population and education averages in terms of enrolment rate, dropouts and classroom size, Culanag said in the press release.*

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