DSWD7, DOLE7 unite to strengthen efforts against child labor in Cebu

MALABUYOC, Cebu-- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Regional Field Office 7 and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) joined hands to strengthen efforts against child labor through an Information and Service Caravan on the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program in Malabuyoc town in Cebu, through DSWD’s Strategic Helpdesk for Information, Education, Livelihood, and Other Developmental (SHIELD) project.

The SHIELD project is a community-based initiative aimed at eliminating child labor, particularly its worst forms.  Its objectives include withdrawing children from child labor and provide holistic interventions; strengthen anti-child labor efforts at the local level and establish helpdesks and a local registry on child labor for referral and convergence of support services.

According to SHIELD Program Focal Person Glenda Riel, over 197 child laborers and 120 parents, who are also beneficiaries of DOLE’s TUPAD program, attended the activity at the Malabuyoc, covered court last March, this year.  The DSWD and DOLE joint event aimed to remove children from child labor, prevent new cases, and provide targeted support to affected families through localized, multi-agency services.

The event also raised awareness on child labor laws, promoted education, and offered livelihood assistance, supporting the vision of a child-labor-free Philippines. They also received free meals from food carts, groceries and other essential items.

The activity in Malabuyoc included a tree planting and the signing of a Pledge of Commitment, followed by orientations on Republic Act No. 9231, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act, and on available programs and services addressing child labor.

SHIELD program is implemented in 16 regions in the country and data showed that over 12,000 child laborers assisted from 2021 to 2024 with 3,887 minors reintegrated into their families and communities.

Child labor is a significant issue in Central Visayas, SHIELD program bared that there were 7,892 child laborers that were profiled in Central Visayas in 2025, exceeding the target of 7,560 and most of these children are from Negros Oriental, Cebu Province, Siquijor, and the Tri-City Field Office.

The agriculture sector has the highest number of child laborers, with 85,570 recorded in the DSWD Listahanan database.

 In Region 7 alone, over 12,000 child laborers have been assisted by the DSWD from 2021 to 2024 through the SHIELD Against Child Labor Program with 3,887 minors have already been reintegrated with their families and communities, while 400 child laborers received various assistance, including educational support, since 2021.

The Regional Council for the Welfare of Children–7 (RCWC-7), and member agencies of the Regional Council Against Child Labor (RCACL)in Central Visayas, including the Department of Justice Action Center–Region VII (DOJAC-7), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-7), and the Department of Agriculture–Central Visayas (DA-7) were one in support to the local SHIELD caravan in Malabuyoc town.

 

 

DOLE-7 to host 5th OSH Visayas Summit in Cebu

 CEBU – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region VII with the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC-7) and the Occupational Health Nurses Association in the Philippines (OHNAP) – Cebu Chapter is hosting the 5^th Summit in the Visayas on November 25-26, 2025 at the Water World Cebu Hotel in Mandaue City, to provide updates to medical practitioners, occupational health nurses, safety and health officers to become more proactive in addressing concerns on health and safety at the workplaces.

“The theme for this year’s Summit is “One Workplace, One Vision: Co-Creating a Safe, Healthy, Decent, and Resilient Workforce”. The department and OSHC partnered with OHNAP because we wanted to emphasize the need to make workplaces be more conscious of responding to the necessity to make all workplaces safe and healthy for all workers,” Atty. Roy Buenafe, DOLE-7 regional director told media at the press conference on November 17 at the DOLE-7 Office.

The Summit expects about 300 or more attendees that are mostly OSH practitioners and other stakeholders in the construction and other industries in Cebu and in the Visayas, said Buenafe, who is a strong advocate of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and has launched initiatives to curb workplace accidents including the creation of the Barangay Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) Patrol program.

Buenafe added that the BOSH Patrol program trained barangay officials and Tanods to monitor and report workplace safety hazards down at the community level in collaboration with the DILG-7. “We have already established BOSH Patrols in 10 barangays in Cebu City, where SME construction companies operate, and are not easily monitored by the department,” he noted.

The Barangay OSH Patrol program has gotten the attention of the National OSH Summit in Manila and plans are afoot to replicate it nationwide, Buenafe believed that bringing it to the barangay level is one great step towards achieving Zero accident in workplaces.

OSH situation in the Visayas

Efren Vito, DOLE-7 Tech. Support & Services Division-Labor Relations and Standards Chief bared that Workplace accidents in Cebu and Central Visayas are a pressing concern. There have been 41 work-related accidents in Central Visayas as of June 15, 2025. The construction industry is the leading sector for workplace accidents, accounting for 47% of total recorded incidents in 2024.

“Among the top industries that registered high incidence of accidents are construction, manufacturing, and retail. From January until now, there has already been 10 reported deaths and 34 injuries in workplaces mostly due to human error and neglect of personal safety, electrocution and falls among other causes,” Vito said.

Vito added that common types of accidents at the workplaces include; Falls from Height-workers falling from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs; Falling Objects-materials or tools dropping from elevated areas; Electrocution-contact with live electrical circuits or equipment; Slips, Trips, and Falls-wet floors, obstacles, or poor lighting.

Other injuries also include, Machine-Related Incidents-amputations, fractures, or crushing injuries; Vehicle Accidents-collisions involving forklifts, trucks, or company vehicles; Overexertion-lifting, pushing, or pulling heavy objects; Exposure to Harmful Substances- chemical, fume, or radiation exposure; and Workplace Violence-assaults, threats, or aggressive behavior, DOLE-7 said.

OSH Center Regional Office Head, Engr. Gines Timosa said that through the 5^th OSH Visayas Summit, DOLE-7 and OSH partners continuously work to promote workplace safety and health, including initiatives like toolbox meetings and safety clinics.

“Occupational safety and health is still part of labor cost and employers should know that if they invest on health and safety, employees become productive that redounds to the benefit of the companies, their employees and eventually, a safe and healthy communities,” Llane Concepcion, OHNAP Cebu Chapter President said. (Photos: MBCNewman & DOLE7-FB)

 

 

 

DOLE-7, Cebu City strengthen support for youth career growth, livelihood for community workers

CEBU CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region VII, in a meeting on October 21, strengthened its partnership with the Cebu City government to support initiatives for youth career development and livelihood for community workers.

DOLE-7 regional director, Atty. Roy Buenafe with the Department of Education--Schools Division of Cebu City (DepEd-SDCC) and the Cebu City Public Employment Service Office (PESO), launched the Career Development Support Program (CDSP) for Grades 10 and 12 students.

Buenafe bared that DOLE-7, DepEd-SDCC with Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Nimfa Bongo and Cebu City-PESO with Mayor Nestor Archival signed the memorandum of agreement on October 10, making Cebu City the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to implement the program locally.

“I commend Cebu City’s proactive move to empower the PESO to ensure that career guidance and employment readiness reach every learner where it matters most, at the community level.  This initiative reflects our commitment to building a future-ready workforce starting with today’s youth,” Buenafe said. (Photos: DOLE7)

Under the CDSP, the Cebu City PESO will lead activities on career coaching, labor market orientation, and employability skills training to help young learners make informed choices and prepare for future work opportunities, Buenafe added.

In similar developments, DOLE-7 and the Cebu City Government also joined forces for the “PasiLimpyo NA!” project under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

Buenafe and Archival had a comprehensive discussion on how to institutionalize the clean-up project to maintain cleanliness in Cebu’s coastal areas.  This means that aside from 50 TUPAD workers initially hired for the said project, an additional 20 TUPAD beneficiaries are deployed in three phases to conduct a coastal cleanup and solid waste removal at the mouth of the Guadalupe River in Sitio Mahayahay, Pasil, Cebu City. (Photos: DOLE7)

 

 

DOLE-7 launches BOSH Patrol, 1st in PH

CEBU CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region VII launched the very first Barangay Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) Patrol in the country to promote the culture of safety and health practices in workplaces, with the increase of work-related accidents in Cebu particularly in the construction and manufacturing industries.

“Workplace safety and health is everybody’s responsibility. I’m saddened at the spike of work-related accidents, reaching up to 42 incidents including two deaths.  One or two deaths due to accidents should never be the norm nor considered negligible by anyone because workers should never be injured nor die while working to earn a living for their families,” DOLE-7 regional director Roy Buenafe said in his opening message to the participants.

More than 50 participants composed of barangay tanods, health workers, and councilors from the 10 barangays in Cebu where 1 or 2 incidents of workplace accidents occurred, attended the two-day Basic Occupational Safety and Health Training for Safety Officers on June 30-July 1 at Mezzo Hotel, Cebu City.

These participants come from barangays Lahug, Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Guadalupe, Mabolo, Apas, Mambaling, Inayawan, Banilad, and Talamban who pledge commitment to help make workplaces in their barangay safe and healthy for workers. 

Buenafe said, Engr. Gines Timosa and his staff from the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) in the region gave the training that included vigilance and awareness on workplace accidents and unhealthy practices. 

Part of the required training output is the Re-Entry Plan of trainees that is needed for them to understand what to do when they return to their respective barangays. TESDA’s Technical Services and Support Division-Labor Relations and Standards (TSSD-LRS) under the leadership of Dr. Efren Vito helped organize the event.

“You are expected to call the attention of those who have unsafe and unhealthy practices at the workplaces, including those informal workers engaged in “pakyaw system”, Buenafe told the BOSH Patrollers. (Photos: DOLE-7)