BARYA: Child Labor in Manila
It was just an ordinary day for us and heavy traffic, which seems to have been a daily routine, lies along Avenida Highway in Manila. Public vehicles with the unbeatable equatorial heat filled this agora. Outside the jeepney window, you’ll notice the worst crisis our country has been facing. Poverty.
Homeless families and street children demonstrate how our country fights poverty. Dressed in torn and dirty loose shirts, they eagerly cross the highway every day without considering their safety just to survive from starving.
While the City of Manila is the capital of the Philippines, this place, unfortunately, is still considered to be the city with the largest number of street children and workers. Hurtful as it may seem, but they just represent the lack of our country to cease poverty.
Sometimes, children think life outside their home is better and much joyful. But for Bryan, a 10-year-old street worker who forced to risk his life in his hazardous job, staying on the street is definitely a difficult challenge for him. He has no choice but to risk his life on the street.
Chasing the jeepneys passing by along the highway, he doesn’t care if people mock and feel disgusted with him. He wipes the shoes of passengers and asks for some money. It would be a great blessing if he could collect at least some ‘barya’ or coins from them. But where does the collected small amount of money go? Just like what typical street children do, he was forced to do this to support his financial needs in school.
Following our conversation, we had the chance to ask him what does he want to do in the future. He, then, answered he wants to arrest criminals and street children like him who do such illegal things. By the look of things, he is likewise determined to earn money and continue his study.
Meanwhile, a cute little guy with chinky eyes captured our way in Divisoria. “A-che (Ate), bili po kayo,” he joyfully uttered. We literally stopped and variegated face mask welcomed us. Since the area itself is polluted, we were left off-guard. We were in the middle of peeking his merchandise when a man, around his early thirties, came by.
Out of curiosity, we felt the urge to ask the man next to him and found out that this little child, named Oman, is his nephew. At the very young age, he grew up helping his family and spending his daytime in this polluted area. Currently, he is a six year- old kid planning to enter his first grade.
In the Philippines, a lot of kids are already working part time to earn some penny. Oman is just one of them, which is indeed alarming considering the fact that children in his age should spend their time in school. According to the Child Labor Act of 1992, working before the permissible age is illegal. Yet we can’t deny this hiatus is unbreakable.
While innocently hugging his filthy feather duster, we playfully asked him to choose between a cheetah and a plainly designed mask. He slightly bit his lips then pointed the first one. We paid the mask to him and sent us a kiddie smile.
Along the street of Quiapo, Manila, we spent many hours to find out what real hard work is. We noticed a mirthful girl wandering around with a bunch of plastic bag hanging on her skinny arm. Her face portrays a look of a decent yet unhealthy child. The girl that caught our mournful eyes is Manilyn. She is an eight-year-old girl who started to earn a living at the very young age by selling plastic bags shamelessly.
She’s just one of the unfortunate street children who have already been working on the street. She sells plastic bags to help her mother who has tuberculosis and earn for her school allowance as well. Nevertheless, it has never been an inconvenience to her since she is already used to it.
When asked about her single wish, she mentioned that she wants to be a teacher someday. She added that she wants to teach for free so that no more children like her will force to stop going to school due to poverty. At this point, we suddenly remembered the famous saying of a poor farmer who wants to send his child to school, “Hindi ko hahayaang danasin mo ang mga dinanas ko noon.” Despite her innocent and jolly image, she seems to be quite aware of what poverty means.
Amidst the sudden drop of light rain, a barefooted boy who was begging for money caught our eyes in Sta. Mesa. He was knocking the windows of few cars passing by the highway of Mandaluyong to Quezon Avenue whenever it all slow down for a red light. He would ask money to the drivers with his red paper cup.
Unlike the street children we just encountered, he couldn’t walk properly. He’s physically disabled making his situation a bit complicated. He was all dirty and pitiful roaming the highway with his longing to earn a small amount of money.
When traffic lights turned to green, he finally had time to take a rest for a while in the gutter. A guy, who seems to be his friend, approached him and they started to count the money or coins they have solicited. This kind of work is obviously illegal yet we can’t help but think positively that they are just doing this on purpose.
Seeing street children roaming around like this is indeed disheartening. But who is to blame? Although pointing finger without justifiable reason is a bad habit, it is still inevitable to blame the negligence of their parents. We’ve come to the point if somebody becomes the child in the picture, will he or she be able to survive and sacrifice his safety on the street just to earn a penny? They may not be as lucky as some people, but they are somehow blessed with bravery and courage in life.
