TACLOBAN CITY – Outreach program for street children and child laborers would be the focus of the Department of labor and Employment (DOLE) as it marks its 71 st anniversary on Tuesday (December 7).

The anniversary celebration is anchored on the theme “Hatid Saya sa mga Batang Manggagawa.”

DOLE assistant regional director Crispin Dannug, in an interview with Leyte Samar daily Express, stressed the need to “put all efforts of the government to fight the use of children for profit.”

Dubbed as “Hatid Saya,” the outreach program activity of the labor department would include distribution of food and clothing to underprivileged children in the city who were earlier identified by the City Social Welfare and Development Office.

In line with the highlight of the anniversary, the DOLE regional coordinating council, which is composed of regional heads of various attached agencies of labor department, is set to open an exhibit at the lobby of the regional office showing programs for child laborers.

DOLE officials admitted that child labor including child trafficking is a big problem of the region.

Dannug said they are closely coordinating with police authorities to address the problem on child labor and trafficking in the region.

“We are helping the Philippine National Police in documenting and intercepting child traffickers and employers where hiring child workers,” Dannug told Leyte Samar Daily Express during a weekly media forum at the Leyte Park Hotel on Saturday.

According to labor officials, employment of children is allowed only if they are under the direct supervision of the parents and the work would not impair the child’s right to attain edru9actoin.