To come up with the sound interventions, appropriate programs and probably policy and legislation to protect vulnerable workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Davao begins this week survey of vulnerable workers in the region.

The profiling will cover the informal economy sector, child laborer and their parents and those in the sugarcane industry.

DOLE Davao regional Director Joffrey M Suyao said that the DOLE wants a more informed decision as it crafts intervention and programs for the vulnerable sectors.

“We wanted to be more realistic and grounded in our planning and budgeting as we create intervention for the vulnerable workers,” he said.

The ILO said vulnerable workers are those who are less likely to have formal work arrangements and lack elements associated with decent employment such as social security, health benefits and recourse to social dialogue or effective collective bargaining mechanisms.

ILO also considers working poor people under the vulnerable employment sector. It defines the working poor as those employed persons living in a household whose members are estimated to be below the national poverty threshold.

The working poor people are those who earn less than $2 a day (2009 data), not enough to lift themselves out of poverty.

Vulnerable employment has been used by the ILO as a proxy name to the informal economy sector to emphasize the very poor quality of jobs and no representation to social platforms for engagements, a news report on vulnerable situation in the Philippines said.

Suyao said all of the 16 regions in the country will conduct the profiling and in Davao region a total of 70 enumerators and seven supervisors were hired to cover the areas of Compostela Valley province, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao City.

“Davao City profiling will be focused on those household with child laborer; Davao del Sur will be targeted more on sugarcane workers; and the other regions to focus on informal sectors,” Suyao said.

“In the region we expect to cover some 16,000 families with child laborers and sugar cane workers and about 12,000 families in the informal sector,” he added.

Sherwin B. Manual/DOLE11