MOLE rescues 120 child laborers in Cotabato City, MDN

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) has rescued at least 120 children who had been working in markets and on the streets of this city and Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte (MDN), to help their impoverished families.

Rescue teams deployed by the ministry on Tuesday and Wednesday found the children, both boys and girls, vending assorted goods in public markets and along city streets, Minister of Labor and Employment Muslimin Sema said in a statement.

Sema said the children had taken up work either to meet their own daily needs or to add to the meager earnings of their parents. All of them, he said, will go through a rehabilitation program and receive cash assistance.

On Wednesday, the children were brought to the MOLE office here for an orientation on the ministry’s programs against child labor in the region.

Bai Sara Jane Sinsuat, chief of the MOLE Bureau of Employment Promotion and Welfare Division, led the activity and distributed school bags, school supplies, and cash to the children.

Their parents and guardians, meanwhile, joined an informal workshop under the Bangsamoro Child Labor Sagip Program (BCLSP), she said.

Each child received P15,000 in cash assistance, released through their parents or guardians. Of the 121 children covered, 84 came from Maguindanao del Norte, Sinsuat said.

The BCLSP has assisted 3,781 child laborers across the Bangsamoro region over the past three years, all of whom are now enrolled in government schools, according to Sinsuat.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, and Lamitan; and the Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province.

Cotabato City is the seat of the Bangsamoro Government.