DOLE BATANGAS GRANTS AID TO A KAKANIN MAKER FROM LIAN, BATANGAS

For decades, selling kakanin and doing domestic work for other people has been the source of income of Ms. Analyn Antonio from Lian, Batangas. Along with her husband, a charcoal maker, they support four children—including Jay-Jay, a profiled child laborer.

Even still, their combined income was not enough to cover their daily expenses. Left with no choice, their son, Jay-Jay, was forced to drop out of school in order to share the financial load of supporting their family.

“Nitong January ho, tumigil si Jay-Jay sa pagpasok dahil po gusto magtrabaho para sa pamilya. Ngayon ay nag u-uling po siya katulong ng kanyang Ama. Kung maari lang ho, ayaw ko ho na mapatulad sa akin yung aking anak. Kung makatapos nga lang ho sila ng high school, masaya na ho ako eh.” Ms. Antonio said with sadness in her eyes.  

Last 2023, the Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office IV-A - Batangas Provincial Office (DOLE BPO) conducted house-to-house monitoring in Lian, Batangas for Jay-Jay and other profiled child laborers as part of the Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP).

In 2023, Ms. Ricaela Salazar, Community Facilitator, and Ms. April Rose Magpantay, CLPEP Focal Person, conducted the monitoring of child laborers and their families at Lumaniag, Lian, Batangas.

Recognizing the financial difficulties encountered by families like the Antonio’s, the Department, under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) provided livelihood assistance to Ms. Antonio and the other fifteen parents of child laborers.

During a turnover ceremony on March 19, 2024, at the Municipal Covered Court of Lian, Batangas, the DOLE personnel distributed the livelihood assistance provided to the beneficiaries including raw materials, tools, and equipment for Printing Services, Piso WiFi, Negokarts, Frozen Foods, BBQ, Ice Scramble, and Kakanin making. 

Ms. Antonio could not hide the excitement on her face as she examined the items she received during the release of the livelihood assistance.

Granted with a generous number of items, Ms. Antonio expresses her overwhelming gratitude to the Department of Labor and Employment. “Hindi ko po inakala na ganito kadami ang maibibigay sa akin. Nagpapasalamat ho ako sa itaas at mga taong naka pili ho sa akin. Napaka laking tulong po nito sa amin.”

Optimistic and excited to start her kakanin business, Ms. Antonio vowed to do her best to grow the micro business granted to her and send her son, Jay-Jay, back to school.

Sixteen parents’ of profiled child laborersfrom Lian, Batangas received Livelihood Assistance from the DOLE.

The provision of livelihood assistance is just one of the Department’s actions in preventing and eliminating child labor in the country by equipping the parents’ of profiled child laborers with the necessary raw materials, tools, and equipment to start a micro business which will enable them to earn and eventually free their children from the burden of child labor.

The DOLE also aims to motivate and bring hope to families like the Antonio’s, to believe that a promising future awaits their children.