DG VIllanueva in Palawan

QUEZON CITY, June 29 (PIA) --- TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva is now in Palawan to meet graduates of technical courses.

DG Villanueva is set to attend technical course graduates at the Puerto Princesa School of Arts and Trades Complex in Barangay Sta. Monica, Puerto Princesa City.

His party is expected to be travelling back now to Puerto Princesa City from a ribbon cutting event at the Palawan Technical School in Barangay Plaridel, Aborlan.

DOH BARES PREPARATIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY 2015

The Department of Health (DOH) today disclosed that it will be deploying two ambulances with emergency response teams from 7AM to 5PM in response to any untoward incident that may occur in the celebration of the country’s 117^th Independence Day.

According to Health Secretary Janette P. Loreto-Garin, these two ambulances will be strategically located at the perimeter of Quirino Grandstand and the Rizal Park flag pole. Each team will be composed of three doctors, three nurses, and team leader.

Also, the DOH will set up booths located at the Binhi ng Kalayaan Garden Path (near Taft Avenue) and will conduct a medical, dental, and optical mission  in coordination with the Metro Manila Development Authority, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Manila Health Department and Ideal Vision Optical Center.

Members of the said medical, dental, and optical mission will be composed of health professionals from the San Lazaro Hospital, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Medical Center, Philippine Orthopedic Center, and East Avenue Medical Center.

Meanwhile, the health chief further advised people joining the Independence Day celebration to bring their own food and water to prevent food and water-borne diseases, wear comfortable clothes, use the portalets when urinating, bring medicines (for those under medications), bring hand sanitizers, wet wipes, and rain coat, identify location of medical stations (in any case there will be a need for emergency care/treatment), and provide children identification cards with contact name and contact numbers (in case they get lost).

For the very old, the very young and disabled, Garin strongly advised them not to join the celebration to prevent injury or casualty.

Press Release/11 June 2015

Artists rock against child labour, mark Philippine Independence Day

The Philippines marks Independence Day and joins the rest of the world for the World Day Against Child Labour 2015 with the Batang Malaya: Freedom from child labour open concert.

MANILA (ILO News) – Artists and rock bands in the Philippines will stage a free concert against child labour to mark the 117^th Philippine Independence Day and the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June.

The concert, featuring The Dawn, Noel Cabangon, Ebe Dancel, Dicta License, Brass Pas Pas Pas, Kain Honasan, Maya’s Anklet and Reklamo, will call for freedom from child labour.

“Child labour is wrong. It doesn't give children the opportunity to enjoy their childhood. It's also one of the reasons why they don't finish their education. It's really an alarming thing to just be complacent about,” said Francis de Veyra, musical director and bassist for Radioactive Sago Project, Brass Pas Pas Pas and Bignay Sound System.

In the Philippines, there are 2.1 million child labourers aged 5-17 years old, mostly in hazardous work (95 per cent) according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.  Children work on farms and plantations, in dangerous mines, in streets, in factories, and in private homes as child domestic workers. Agriculture remains to be the sector where most child labourers can be found at 58 per cent.

“Child labour is a complex issue rooted in poverty and the lack of access to decent work and social protection for adults. A few pesos these children may earn while putting their health at risk or their lives in danger cannot change their future the way access to education can change their lives.  Education opens doors to greater opportunities,” said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for the Philippines.

The ILO’s World Report on Child Labour: Paving the way to decent work for young people will also be launched in Geneva with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on 12 June. The report will present empirical evidence of how child labour combined with limited education can lead to increased youth vulnerability and greater difficulties in transitioning to good jobs.

This year’s World Day Against Child Labour calls for:

·         Free, compulsory, quality education for all children until at least the minimum age for admission to employment, and action to reach those presently in child labour.

·         New efforts to ensure that national policies on child labour and education are consistent and effective.

·         Policies that ensure access to quality education and investment in the teaching profession.

“Let’s guide the children and not let them suffer. Let’s take care of them and protect their rights to be children and to remain children.  Let us allow them to freely know themselves and their world.  They won’t be able to do if at a young age if they are given responsibilities they are not prepared for”, said Ebe Dancel, former vocalist of Sugarfree, who will perform and strike a chord in the Freedom from Child Labour Concert.

The Batang Malaya: Freedom from Child Labour Concert is free and open to the public. It will be held on 12 June 2015, 4:30 p.m. at the Rizal Park Open Auditorium in Manila. The concert is organized by the ILO and RockEd Philippines in partnership with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), which is chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment.

Partners in the fight against child labour, government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, non-government organizations, children previously engaged in child labour, along with ambassadors and heads of the United Nations in the Philippines are expected to join the concert and to support the call for freedom from child labour.

For more information please contact:

Giovanni Soledad

ILO International Programme
on the Elimination of Child Labour

Tel. No.:+63 2 580 9900 / 580 9402

soledad@ilo.org

Minette Rimando

Media and Public Information

ILO Country Office for the Philippines

Tel. No.:+63 2 580 9900 / 580 9905

Mobile No.: +63 917 535 3162

rimando@ilo.org

10 June 2015