MANILA -- A lawmaker urged the national government Sunday to strengthen its policies in eradicating child labor in the Philippines.

"We need to exhaust more measures and enlist more allies so we can protect our children from the dangers of child labor and exploitation," Rizal 4th District Representative Fidel Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles added that "more and more children are being forced to work since the pandemic," citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) wherein the number of child laborers in the country went up in 2021.

According to PSA, there were 1.37 million working children aged five to 17 years old in 2021.

This was higher than the 872,333 children of the same age range working in 2020.

The lawmaker, who is also the chairman of the House Committee on Labor and Employment, said that the government might need to review RA 9231 or an act focusing on the elimination of child labor in the country.

Nograles also said that country might need more social protection services, quality education, and better economic opportunities that would mitigate the effect of poverty on families, which would prevent children from getting forced early into labor.

The PSA added that 62.8 percent or 858,000 of these child laborers were male, while female children had a 37.2 percent share or 508,200.

Around 45.7 percent of these child laborers were involved in the agriculturals sector, followed by the services sector at 45.4 percent.

The lawmaker said he would initiate a meeting with other stakeholders to discuss what measures could be crafted in addressing the issue.

"Hindi lang ito usapin ng batas. Ang kailangan natin dito ay multi-sectoral approach. Nananawagan ako hindi lang sa pamahalaan, kundi pati na rin sa mga partner natin sa private sector, academe, non-government organizations, at mismong mga komunidad natin na makipagtulungan at makipagkaisa kontra sa child labor," said Nograles.

"Ang mga bata, dapat nag-aaral at naglalaro, hindi nagta-trabaho, upang lumaki silang kayang abutin ang rurok ng kanilang potensyal," he added.