Children in the Bangsamoro region of southern Philippines once scavenged dump sites and toiled agricultural fields from dawn till dusk.
They collected plastics and cans for sale, exposed to toxins and missing school. A former scavenger recalls: "We live near the garbage dump. We are scavengers.
The Bangsamoro region is largely agriculture-based, with children often trapped in child labour. Since I was 12, I have been working daily 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., then returned at 12:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m."
Child labour strips rights to protection, learning and health. Change restores them. Now initiatives replace danger with opportunity.
The film Learning Not Labour, directed by Tu Alid Alfonso, spotlights this shift as part of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Voice of Action series ahead of the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour (11-13 February 2026, Marrakech, Morocco).
