By Emmanuel Canto
As we look back during the economic crisis in the 1980s, Negros was at the center of attraction for the undesirable tag “Batang Negros.”
History would tell us that term was about children who were the primary victims of hunger and malnutrition on Negros Island. The main cause of poverty was the downfall of the sugar industry, which compelled the children to work to help their parents survive extreme poverty.
It was considered as the darkest history experienced by the children in Negros. Their younger days were taken away from them because of the unavoidable economic crisis.
As we all know, the economy of Negros Occidental, a sugar-producing province, purely depended on the sugar industry during those days.
And when the sugar industry falls down, the economy suffers, and farmworkers’ families suffer the most. Children are the most vulnerable who can hardly eat three times a day.
The face of “Batang Negros,” who I will not mention the name, died of malnutrition. The child, photographed by a journalist, went viral that time, and the whole world knew the true state of children in Negros. It was the darkest part of Negros’ history.
The following is a news article from the Philippine Information Agency:
The Department of Labor and Employment in the Negros Island Region (DOLE-NIR) has strengthened its monitoring of nearly 6,000 profiled child laborers in the region, prioritizing them for government interventions.
The Regional Council Against Child Labor convened to reinforce interagency efforts and institutional mechanisms aimed at eradicating child labor in the country by 2028.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the number of working children aged five to 17 was estimated at 861,000 in 2024, continuing a downtrend from 1.09 million in 2023 and 1.48 million in 2022.
Labor and employment officer Florabelle May Libawan of DOLE-NIR reported that DOLE profiled 5,749 child laborers in the region in 2025 — 60 percent, or 3,475, from Negros Oriental; 35 percent, or 2,020, from Negros Occidental; and five percent, or 254, from Siquijor.
Child labor was most prevalent in Negros Oriental, where the municipalities of Bindoy, Mabinay, Manjuyod, Ayungon, and Tanjay City recorded the highest concentrations.
Libawan noted that the agriculture sector has consistently employed the highest share of working children, given the region’s extensive sugarcane plantations.
Of the 5,749 profiled child laborers, 77 percent, or 4,428, were engaged in farming; 368 in fishing; 236 in domestic work; 186 in forestry; 142 in construction; 71 in quarrying; 47 in manufacturing; and 27 in transportation, among others.
“A large number of child laborers are exposed to various hazardous conditions. The most common is exposure to physical injury because they are engaging in hazardous activities using tools that are inappropriate for their age,” Libawan said.
DOLE’s Technical Support and Services Division chief Nole Torres said child labor remains a pressing challenge deeply rooted in poverty, noting that NIR has one of the highest poverty rates in the country.
Under DOLE’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program, 208 parents or guardians of child laborers in Negros Oriental and Siquijor received direct government assistance to help ensure their children could attend school and complete their education.
Through livelihood assistance awarded to parents, DOLE aims to boost family income and keep children from returning to hazardous work.
In 2025, DOLE’s Project Angel Tree provided food, clothing, hygiene kits, and educational materials — sourced from donors referred to as “angels” — to 311 children in Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
Torres stressed that addressing child labor demands convergence, coordination and sustained collaboration, calling for the institutionalization of a unified approach to ensure that “all children deserve to learn, to grow and to dream free from exploitation.”
Under Republic Act No. 9231, child labor refers to any work performed by a child under 18 that subjects the child to exploitation or is harmful to his or her health, safety or physical, mental and psychological development./WDJ