MALATE, Manila- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MIMAROPA has recorded 9,521 poor working children aged 5-17 years old regionwide according to the 2015 Listahanan household assessment.

In Oriental Mindoro, 2,304 working children belong to poor households were identified; 2,393 in Occidental Mindoro; 642 in Marinduque; 747 in Romblon; and 3,435 in Palawan.

From the number identified, 15.9 % (1,519) are farmers; 12.5% (1,186) are fisherfolks; and 0.98% (93) are forestry workers.

In MIMAROPA, the top three municipalities with high cases of working children are San Jose, Occidental Mindoro with 456 children; Brooke’s Point, Palawan with 420; and Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro with 411.

The assessment further revealed that from the poor working children, 69.6% are male and 30.4 % are female.

The department continues advocating to stop the illegal employment of children and report cases of child labors in MIMAROPA.

Listahanan of the DSWD is a government mechanism that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide. It is a comprehensive database serves as the basis for selecting government pro-poor program beneficiaries.

June 12 is recognized as the World Day Against Child Labour.  Child labor is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.###