Sa Albuera, Leyte, ilang kabataan ang nagtitiis sa maputik, mabigat at peligrosong trabaho ng pagtotroso kapalit ng kakarampot na kita. Kabilang sa matiyagang umakyat ng bundok ang magkaibigang Warren at Jessie para matugunan ang pangangailangan ng kani-kanilang pamilya. Muling balikan ang kanilang kuwento sa video na ito.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Hey!
00:01 I don't want to!
00:02 I'm going to call the police!
00:03 Every push...
00:13 Every pull...
00:22 Every pull...
00:26 Every pull...
00:28 ...equals a profit to support their families.
00:35 So even if they have to bear the burden of three months, they will endure it.
00:47 [Music]
00:50 In Albuera, Leyte, we met six friends.
01:14 It's getting harder.
01:17 It's starting to get harder.
01:20 The harder it is, the better it is.
01:37 The group is pulling coconuts from the coconut tree.
01:44 This part is spacious and clean.
01:50 There are no plants.
01:51 Here, the coconuts are being carried by two people at the same time.
01:56 So before they climb up, they shout first
02:00 so that no one will fall from the coconuts.
02:04 Hey!
02:05 I don't want to!
02:07 I'm going to call the police!
02:08 Because while we're climbing...
02:10 If we get hit here, we're dead.
02:12 I don't want to!
02:14 I'm going to call the police!
02:16 Wait, I'll look for it.
02:18 It's hard.
02:22 It's easier without shoes because the feet are attached to the coconut.
02:28 Like this.
02:29 Yes.
02:30 It's attached.
02:32 But it's slippery.
02:34 It's really slippery.
02:35 This is really slippery.
02:36 Yes, for your brakes.
02:37 This is the most slippery part.
02:39 This is not yet?
02:40 Yes, this is really slippery when it rains.
02:43 They usually reach more than an hour in climbing the mountain.
02:54 But for a newbie like me, it's still longer.
03:03 When you said the path is hard, I didn't know it's this hard.
03:08 It's really hard.
03:10 It's really hard, right?
03:11 Oh my God.
03:16 We're in Tuktukta, the mountain.
03:21 This is where they get the coconut.
03:25 Look where we came from.
03:27 You're not letting us climb this yet?
03:32 Later, they'll also let us climb the coconut tree.
03:39 In Tuktuk, they got the pieces of coconut.
03:45 They're cutting the pieces of coconut that have chainsaws.
03:51 They're paying for it to be cut.
03:58 They're using sticks and nails to cut the 80-kilo coconut lumber.
04:06 [music]
04:31 They're cutting it in different parts of the mountain.
04:35 Warren, 15 years old, is the most difficult to pull the pieces.
04:44 It's cut and her fingers are stuck to her hands and feet.
04:49 It's not hard for you to climb the coconut tree?
04:53 It's hard for me too, ma'am.
04:55 Because it's slippery.
04:58 And for other people, their tails are not attached.
05:05 It means that your feet can't reach the coconut.
05:10 Yes.
05:11 It's harder for you than for others.
05:13 [music]
05:19 Why do you do this, ma'am?
05:21 We're from the city of Rigas.
05:23 I get a little money from here.
05:27 I use it to pay for my school fees.
05:31 After school, I have a job.
05:37 I don't have to work anymore because my hands are cut.
05:46 Their job is dangerous.
05:50 Warren says that she has climbed several times the coconut tree.
05:55 A branch fell on me.
05:57 I was holding the rope.
06:04 I got hurt.
06:08 It hurts.
06:09 The coconut tree fell.
06:11 Like Warren, she also pulls the pieces from the mountain.
06:20 She expects to feed her friend Jesse, who is 15 years old.
06:26 We do this to buy rice for the house,
06:33 and to buy food for my siblings for school.
06:38 She has been injured several times.
06:44 What is the most difficult thing you do here in the mountains?
06:50 Pulling.
06:51 Why?
06:52 If you don't know how to do it, you can get hurt.
06:59 If you're not used to it, you can fall.
07:01 I slipped.
07:02 When it rains here, it's slippery.
07:05 You can't climb.
07:12 Rodolfo is the youngest.
07:14 He is strong when he pulls the pieces.
07:17 How old were you when you started?
07:19 Nine.
07:20 Did you get hurt when you were pulling?
07:22 I slipped.
07:23 Their fragile body is broken.
07:34 If climbing is difficult,
07:36 it is more difficult to go down the mountain.
07:39 Let's go!
08:02 The thinner coco lumber is passed to the side of the road.
08:07 This is the coco lumber, which they call 2x6x8.
08:14 It's 2 inches thick,
08:16 and 6 inches here.
08:19 It's length is 8 feet.
08:22 This is 8 pesos per piece.
08:26 The friends took a short break.
08:28 They didn't have anything to eat that day.
08:32 They only had water.
08:34 How are you feeling?
08:36 I'm so tired.
08:37 Very tired.
08:38 Very tired.
08:39 I feel like I'm going to die.
08:41 I'm not going to make it.
08:43 I'm not going to make it.
08:44 I'm not going to make it.
08:45 I'm not going to make it.
08:46 I'm not going to make it.
08:47 I'm not going to make it.
08:48 I'm not going to make it.
08:49 I'm not going to make it.
08:50 I'm not going to make it.
08:51 I'm not going to make it.
08:52 I'm not going to make it.
08:53 I'm not going to make it.
08:54 I'm not going to make it.
08:55 I feel like I'm going to die.
08:56 I'm so tired.
08:57 You're so tired?
08:58 And I'm thirsty.
08:59 If there's no water, I'm thirsty.
09:02 How much are you expecting to earn today?
09:15 150 pesos.
09:18 150 pesos.
09:20 Is that for all of you?
09:22 Yes.
09:23 Oh, so for the whole group, 150 pesos?
09:26 Or for each of you, 150 pesos?
09:28 For the whole group.
09:29 For the whole group, 150 pesos?
09:32 Yes.
09:33 And how many of you will share this?
09:35 Six.
09:36 So for 150 pesos, you're six.
09:38 So that's around 20 pesos each.
09:41 For one day.
09:42 To earn 150 pesos, how many coconuts are there?
09:48 Just three.
09:50 Three?
09:51 It depends on how big and long they are.
09:54 They have to wait for the truck to come and pay them.
10:17 It's not a joke how heavy the coconuts that Jesse and Warren are carrying are.
10:22 Sometimes, they can weigh up to 80 kilos.
10:27 This is what you're carrying?
10:36 After we put this here, we'll pile it up.
10:41 You'll pile it up in the truck that will deliver to the store?
10:45 Yes.
10:47 The coconuts that are being sold are materials used to make furniture and household items.
10:53 After almost half a day of searching for food,
11:01 the truck that they were supposed to get from the coconuts that they were carrying did not arrive.
11:06 Because it was not sold by their friends, they did not earn anything.
11:15 Because they did not earn anything that day, Warren and Jesse just managed to get salt and rice for lunch.
11:22 Salt and cold rice are the way to get back at the Japanese.
11:30 What do you buy with the money?
11:34 Sardines, sir.
11:35 And soy sauce.
11:36 If you have 10 pesos, you'll have money.
11:44 It's been 10 years since Warren left his mother and father.
11:48 His father is not with us anymore.
11:52 He is currently looking for a job.
11:55 They have not yet finished their studies.
12:01 This is the reason why Warren is trying to find a way to get into school.
12:11 Because of the tiredness that Warren was experiencing, his father came to his rescue.
12:18 I am sorry for my son because he is still young.
12:21 I told him that if I can take care of myself, I will not have any problem.
12:28 He said, "Okay, if I finish my studies, I can get a job."
12:40 Warren's friend, Jesse, is the eldest of four siblings.
12:45 Sir, I need vinegar.
12:47 I need vinegar.
12:49 I got some for our dinner tonight.
12:55 What are you going to cook?
12:57 Nothing. Just a dish.
13:07 In 2012, Jesse's father, Mangroelio, had a stroke.
13:11 He used to be a taxi driver in Manila.
13:14 Since his body was paralyzed, he decided to go home to Albuerol, Leyte.
13:20 Since then, he has not been able to find a job.
13:25 What do you expect from your life, sir?
13:28 My wife.
13:29 She is the one who is working now.
13:32 My family is starving.
13:37 I am working as a housekeeper in Manila.
13:42 Jesse's mother sends money to them.
13:46 Jesse earns a lot from pulling coconuts.
13:50 His younger brother studies in an elementary school.
13:55 Jesse is the one who gives him money.
13:59 So they are studying, but you are not?
14:02 I am not studying anymore, ma'am.
14:05 I don't have money to go to school.
14:10 To get a massage.
14:11 Yes, to get a massage.
14:13 I don't have money to pay for the school fees.
14:16 Do you have someone else to study with?
14:18 Yes, ma'am.
14:19 Have you thought of going back to school?
14:23 No.
14:25 Jesse has a special need.
14:29 He has not been examined by a specialist yet.
14:32 That is why his condition is not yet confirmed.
14:36 What do you think when you are in trouble?
14:38 I am okay, ma'am.
14:40 I will do any job.
14:44 I will just need money.
14:47 If you don't have money, you can't do anything.
14:51 It is really hard.
14:55 The reason for the hardship is still the same.
14:58 That is why many children are not able to study.
15:02 Actually, there is a reason.
15:04 Not only out of school youth and child laborers,
15:07 there are many children who are enrolled,
15:09 but there are times when they are absent for work.
15:12 That is why there are 2 to 3 million child laborers.
15:15 The combination of those two is not enough.
15:18 The combination of those two is not enough.
15:21 The combination of those two is not enough.
15:23 The combination of those two is not enough.
15:26 Our Pantawid Program,
15:28 where we provide financial assistance
15:32 to the poorest of the poor,
15:35 to households and families.
15:38 Aside from that,
15:40 we also have programs for out of school youth.
15:43 That is more preventive.
15:46 We provide skills training to them.
15:49 We have family development sessions
15:52 in terms of providing proper parenting to our parents.
15:59 Our economic situation requires the study of our national government
16:08 that we will have sustainable job opportunities.
16:12 We will have food security and job security for each family.
16:18 This is what we are studying in the new government.
16:23 Have you ever thought of quitting your job?
16:28 I don't know, sir.
16:31 I want to quit my job.
16:35 But you can't.
16:36 I can't, sir. It's hard. I don't have a job.
16:39 For Jesse, he needs to put aside his studies and dreams.
16:48 He has to climb mountains and climb hills.
16:53 His body is weak.
16:55 He is dependent on his family.
16:59 Life is hard, right?
17:01 Yes.
17:02 Do you feel that?
17:04 When did it start?
17:06 I was only 11 years old.
17:11 You were forced to do this.
17:13 Yes.
17:14 Because of that, you need to support your family.
17:17 It's okay for me, ma'am.
17:19 I will do any job.
17:22 The country's problem is still poverty.
17:29 A disease of the society that, until it is not treated,
17:33 there are people like Warren and Jesse who will continue to dig for a living.
17:40 Until next Thursday, I am Mackie Pulido.
17:46 I am Giga Manikad and this is the new decade of Reporters Notebook.
17:51 [Music]
17:54 [Music]