Bata Bata Paano Ka Gina

Bata Bata, Bakit ka Ginawa?

A research paper about Child Labor in the Philippines

I. Introduction

Child Labor, according to survey, has gradually increased by almost 30 percent from 4.2 million in 2001 to 5.5 million last year. The term “child labor” refers to situations where “children are compelled to work on a regular basis to earn a living for themselves and their families and, as a result, are disadvantaged educationally and socially”. It also applies to situations where “children work in conditions that are exploitative and damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development; where children are separated from their families often deprived of educational training opportunities; and where children are forced to lead prematurely adult lives.”

The economist and philosopher Amartya Sen describes child labor as that "barbarity of children being forced to do things...made much beastlier still through its congruence with bondage and effective slavery." (Sen 1999) John Paul II notes in a 1996 Speech: "Child labor in its intolerable forms constitute a kind of violence", a kind of violence which the Compendium on the Social Teachings of the Church states is "beyond all political, economic and legal implications, remains essentially a moral problem"

Many children have become the faces of modern day slavery. As child labor is linked to human poverty, economic progress is supposed to be the key to the freedom of enslaved children. But the problem is more fundamental - lack of respect for the humanity of the poor. The most affluent sectors of society disregard the suffering of these children for these young souls do not have an essential stake in any economic enterprise. Many of us, on the other hand, simply are too pre-occupied with our own desires and ambitions in life.

But what is equally unbearable is the fact that the government that is supposed to protect them is missing. The admonition of Pope Leo XIII should serve as an eternal reminder:...