Manila, Philippines, Nov 7, 2019 / 11:09 am America/Denver (CNA).
A Catholic bishop in the Philippines is drawing attention to the ongoing problem of child labor in the country, urging a cooperative effort to eliminate the factors driving children into often dangerous working conditions.
“The situation of the suffering children and those who are deprived of their rights and dignity leave a great challenge to us as a church and as a society,” said Bishop Roberto Mallari of San Jose, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ news website.
The government has introduced a plan to combat child labor and says it hopes to reduce the numbers of working children in the country by 30% by 2022.
However, Mallari stressed that the factors contributing to child labor are complex, and will take a combined effort from the government, church, and society to solve.
“The root of this sad reality is poverty and lack of livelihood options which leads the child to contribute to the family income,” he said.