"CARP failure blamed for child labor, poverty--advocates"

In Davao City, Philippines, they are blaming the failure of CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) for the increase in child labor. They say that the worsening of poverty in the rural areas is pushing more and more children into agricultural work to gain money for their families. Not only do the children want money, Eliza Apit says that these economic conditions have caused parents to send their children to sugarcane plantations and other farms in the Sarangani province and Mindanao. This article is different than many others in that it gives the perspective of a child laborer, Marlon Makilan who is now 20. 10 years ago, he worked in a sugarcane factory in Sarangani to make money that his parents could use to help support the family. He explains the working conditions saying that they worked rain or shine for p40 to p50 a day. He recalls that children as young as 5 and 6 worked with him in these fields tying sugarcane into bundles then carrying it to vans. He is lucky though now in his 3rd year of college. Apit did not provide the number of children working in these plantations today but she did say that the rising numbers can be attributed to the government’s failed land reform program. She claims that there are 3 things that need to be implemented in order for parents to stop sending their children to work and that is minimum wage, 6 day work weeks and genuine land reform. As of today, they are only allowed to work 2-3 days a week which does not provide enough money for them to survive. Celso Pojas of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines says that after 19 years of CARP, 7 out of 10 farmers are still landless which is causing children to be sent out to work.

This article seemed to be playing the blame game without giving a solution. They suggested a way for parents to make more money, but they did not suggest a way for these children to better themselves once they're not working. I did though, like that they interviewed a young man who had been through this child labor "system" and made it for you dont often here of these success stories. But at the same time, I am sure that for every success story there is atleast 3 stories of death or poverty even after child labor. These parents beleive that this is the answer, and it may be; but only a temporary answer. What this really does is condemn these children to a life of poverty equal to or worse than that of their parents for while they are working, they are not being educated in the way that they should. So not only do the working standards need to be changed, but the education system needs to be developed to compensate for these large groups of child laborers.

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=186&a=23101