It is calculated that as of year 2002, there are about 300 illegal manufacturers aside from the licensed manufacturers in the province of Bulacan. During peak seasons, manufacturers employ around 6,000 persons and about 30 percent (almost 2,000) of this figure are children.
Some of the factors leading to the incidence of child labour: children need to help their families because of poverty; they like to earn money for their personal needs; they desire to work because they are not interested to study and they left home. From the community/societal level, the impelling factors that cause children to work are: (1) limited economic opportunities in the area; (2) pyrotechnics is labour intensive so it demands high employment which does not require technical training, especially during the peak months; (3) the practice of utilizing children in the production of pyrotechnics is an accepted practice in the industry; (4) lack of serious implementation of the law and ordinances governing pyrotechnics; (5) lack of acceptance among LGU officials that there is child labour in Bulacan; (6) lack of access to schools in the place where many of the migrant child workers come from, and as a result parents opted to ask them to work to supplement family income; (7) uncontrolled incidence of child trafficking by relatives of owners and subcontractors in the industry of children from other provinces who are enticed to work with a promise of pay and benefits such as free board and lodging.
Effects on the children working in the pyrotechnics industry: Physically, they feel exhausted at the end of the day after long hours of work in a squatting or standing position. Psychologically, children lose their interest to study because they are now earning money and this is exacerbated by the fact that working overtime does not make it possible for them to continue their studies. Socially, children feel that they have less time for recreation, play and even to socialize with other people outside of their work. Both boy and girl children workers are exposed to the same hazards and imminent dangers of working in the pyrotechnics industry.
The paper commends efforts of some NGOs. However, there is still a need to strengthen the established POs and LGU partnership in eliminating child labour. Community organizing efforts must also be strengthened to include backyard producers and expanding these to cover other municipalities with known cases of child labour. Other interventions such as improvement of law enforcement, support services and non-formal education for working children should be considered.
