Locating the structure and agency among child laborers in selected city in Region III, Philippines [manuscript] / Ruby Ann Sanchez Nisay.

United Nations defined child labor as a form of exploitation and violation of children's rights as identified by UNICEF. It is a global concern even here in the Philippines. This study tried to describe the experience of child laborers in a selected city in Central Luzon, in the Philippines. This study aimed to present the structure and agency demonstrating the experience of child laborers age seventeen years old and below who work as fishermen in a selected city in central Luzon. The study reviewed the profiles, personal insights, challenges and experiences of young laborers. The study was limited to those children who work as child labor for one year and above. Ten participants were selected among the children ages seventeen and below who were engaged into fishing labor force in Barangay Tortugas Balanga City, Bataan. The study used thematic and unstructured interview to present further documents in process and examining written text for data gathering. Documentary interview was employed to counter check the validity of data based from the 1994 Moutakas Method. An independent assessment of transcript by additional skilled qualitative researchers and comparing agreement between the raters were employed Child laborers within the age bracket of 13 years old to 17 years old or 15.1 belonged to adolescent period, had 7 participants according to birth order, all respondents were members of big family, majority graduated from elementary level, living with their fathers only, with fathers' occupation, and worked as a fisherman for a year and above. Majority of the participants revealed that as to their thoughts and feelings, the lived experiences of being a child laborer gave them a sense of fulfillment to earn and to help their family. From the child laborers participated in the study it revealed the following emerging themes: The huge family structure, broken family relationship, fishing as family income, lower class economic status and children's goal for their future. In terms of the source income of the child laborers all of them find fishing as the major form of their resources in their form of living. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that the phenomenon on child labor is in a way similar and yet different to one another in some degrees. The structure and agency like city government should look into the plight of child labors and design livelihood programs and projects for the parents of child laborers that can help them to earn some more in order to provide the needs of their families. Likewise, seminars and trainings on livelihood program should be provided that will suit to the job requirements of the parents of the child labors. Recommendations were given to diminished and prevent the prevalence of child labor through local and community based initiative programs.