SAN FERNANDO CITY, Jan. 26 (PIA) -- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Ilocos Region continues to promote child labor prevention and elimination program amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Among the Department's services under the program is the provision of social services to child laborers and children at risk of child labor through the Project Angel Tree.

On Jan. 18, the DOLE La Union Provincial Office distributed educational kits to 160 child laborers from Rosario town.

All beneficiaries received a kit which consists of a table, chair, and school supplies.

According to Nathaniel V. Lacambra, regional director of the DOLE-1, the kits are aimed to aid the children's families in their expenses in modular and online learning.

"We work for you, so you can stay home and study," Lacambra said.

Lacambra said the beneficiaries are among the child laborers who were profiled by their office to ensure the delivery of most appropriate interventions to protect them and their families from the adverse effects of the pandemic.

Cornelio Oribello, Jr. thanked the DOLE on behalf of his daughter Angelica Joy Oribello who is currently a Senior High School student.

"I am happy that my daughter aspires to become a lawyer someday despite our family's economic situation," Oribello, a construction worker, said in Ilocano.

The labor department continues to strengthen its commitment of achieving a child-labor free Philippines under the Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL).

Last year, the DOLE assisted close to 340,000 minors and their families under the PPACL. (JCR/VHS/JPD, PIA La Union with reports from DOLE)