FINDING CDLs IS NOT AN EASY TASK

Domestic child-laborers (DCLs) belong to a special sub-sector

of children that deserves special care and attention. Pushed by
poverty and lack of education, these children sought to be employed
in other people’s households on starvation salaries in spite of working
for unbelievably long hours.
Away from their families and friends and isolated within
unfamiliar surroundings, DCLs are constantly exposed to the risk of
abuse and exploitation. The feeling of loneliness and helplessness
breed low esteem, a common malady of DCLs.
They know that if they can only continue their aborted
education, they would have a fair chance of improving their lot. And
some of them are eager to pursue their formal studies, but there are
real barriers to this goal.
For one, they can hardly find the time, energy and money to
realize this ambition. Odds are definitely stacked up against the
DCLs.
But a ray hope is in the horizon. Lingap Pangkabataan Inc. has
opened a window to DCLs who are determined enough to make their
dreams come through. But who are these ambitious and deserving
child-laborers? Where are they?
Although domestic child-laborers are omnipresent in the
Philippine society, especially in urban areas, finding the would-be
beneficiaries of Lingap’s program for DCLs was surprisingly difficult. It
was like looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack.
When Lingap Pangkabataan Inc. (LPI) conducted a survey
among households, the latter could not help but be suspicious, wary
that the information they give might eventually incriminate them. They
fear that the Department of Labor would be able to monitor their
employment of minors as domestic child-laborers and charge them
with cases of abuse.
Getting the local government officials on our side was even
harder. The politicians in them prevented them from sharing
information freely, afraid that their affected electorate might turn
against them come election time if and when the survey results in the
prevention of employment of minors as domestic laborers.
Left on their own, Lingap relied on ingenuity to ferret out DCLs
from thousands of students in a school. It hopped from one school to
another, handing out a three-minute questionnaire comprised of three
simple questions. The technique goes this way-
A surveyor or enumerator goes inside a classroom, with the
permission of the class adviser or subject teacher, and asks this
question: Are there students here who presently live with families
who are not their biological parents?
If there are students who raised their hands, a follow-up
question is asked: Who are you staying with?
Aunt, uncle, family friend, neighbor and a relative are the usual
answers to this question.
Once potential DCLs are identified, they are invited outside the
classroom for a formal survey, with the permission of class teachers,
of course. The one-to-one interview with those who responded to the
mini-survey would identify who are the DCLs in private.
Hence, they are saved from the embarrassment of being
identified by their classmates as “katulong” or “kasambahay.” This is
something that is very important to them because no one wanted to
be identified as such, especially since many of them are adolescents
who are trying to fit in to the school crowd. The label, “paaral ng tita
or tito” is more acceptable than being a “katulong” or “kasambahay.” It
is a simple case of preservation of self-esteem on their part.
A thin line separates a child who is currently “paaral” by an
Auntie or Uncle and one who is a DCL. The real barometer, however,
is the nature and condition of work he or she provides to the current
family he or she lives with.
The following are the DCL indicators:

 The child performs repetitive tasks within specific period in a

day;
 The performance of the expected task is monitored by an adult
in the family;
 The child is given a small allowance or, in some cases, salary in
exchange for the tasks done;
 The child has a specified number of hours in school and he or
she has to be back in an appointed time. Normally, the number
of working hours is equal or longer than the number of study
hours;
 His/Her leisure hours are limited and is under strict control from
an adult member in the family;
 In 2004, through a fund provided by Winrock International, Lingap
started a project that provides educational services to 93 domestic
child-laborers who desire to go back to formal schools or non-formal
education through the Alternative Learning System of the Department
of Education.

Finding the domestic child-laborers is, indeed, not easy, but once
this is done, a breakthrough is achieved. It spells the difference
between a child saved from further abuse and a child obscurely
continuing to silently bear the brunt of an abusive condition he or she
is in.

One child saved is one destiny fulfilled.

ANG BATAS KASAMBAHAY

Ang Senate Bill 1771 ay panulaka ni Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ay
nagbibigay proteksyon sa mga Child Domestic Workers laban sa
anuman uri ng pang-aabuso, sinuportahan ito ng International
Labor Organization(ILO), Visayan Forum (VF) at marami pang
non-government organizations (NGO’s) sa pamamagitan ng
pagbuo ng isang asosasyon upang magsanay ng mga
kasambahay ukol sa tamang pagpapadaloy ng gawaing bahay at
iba pang seminar na makakatulong sa kanilang pag-unlad at
paglago bilang isang tao.

Ang Quezon City ang unang LGU na naglunsad ng

pagrerehistro ng mga kasambahay; kasama rin sa City
Ordinance ng pagkakaroon ng Kasambahay Desk Office na ito
sa bawat Barangay Hall kung saan pwedeng matakbuhan ng
mga naaabusong kasambahay; magkaroon din ng prebelihiyo
ng mga kasambahay na matamasa ang tulong pang-edukasyon
mula sa LGU.