DIGGING DREAMS
The Story of Young Miners in Dap-Dap, Rapu-Rapu, Albay
An investigative feature on the heavily normalized child labor cases among marginalized sectors in far-flung rural places in Albay.
Dreamy sepia lenses, overflowing laughter in our senses, and growing fonder in our housesthat is how we often remember our childhood years. An age where we learn the young concepts of love that are often associated with happy feelings, fulfillment of filial duties, and the daily practice of social justice.
In a contemporary era of abominable cynical concepts of love, how can one truly find it when one only sees the suffering of inherited poverty? When the daily practice of love and filial duty is digging through the harsh punishment of reality - to work at an early age searching for hope in the murky and dark mine’s cave underneath an abandoned little child’s dreams’ grave.
In a little mining community of Dap-Dap in the coastal municipality of Rapu-Rapu, mines have borne the grave of hundreds if not thousands of children whose dreams have died because of extreme poverty. This community had heard many children dreaming of clashing away from the inherited fate of being a miner.
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VIA | REINNARD BALONZO
DIGGING DREAMS
Dreamy sepia lenses, overflowing laughter in our senses, and growing fonder in our houses - that is how we often remember our childhood years. An age where we learn the young concepts of love that are often associated with happy feelings, fulfillment of filial duties, and the daily practice of social justice.
In a contemporary era of abominable cynical concepts of love, how can one truly find it when one only sees the suffering of inherited poverty? When the daily practice of love and filial duty is digging through the harsh punishment of reality - to work at an early age searching for hope in the murky and dark mine’s cave underneath an abandoned little child’s dreams’ grave.
In a little mining community of Dap-Dap in the coastal municipality of Rapu-Rapu, mines have borne the grave of hundreds if not thousands of children whose dreams have died because of extreme poverty. This community had heard many children dreaming of clashing away from the inherited fate of being a miner. Too odd compared to how children of their age might perhaps answer of dreaming to be a doctor, teacher, or lawyer.
Instead, beneath their answers that are characterized by how others might see it as a form of ‘escape’ is the powerful courage of a child to dream of their family’s salvation with them as the sacrificial lamb. They knew that with their condition, the only way to save a sibling that is starving, a father that is ailing, and a mother that is turned away by stores because of debts is for them to work with their bones as young as their innocence.
Jeremy Balinsayo, a nine-year-old first-born child, is now the breadwinner of his family. He worked in local small-scale mines for about a year after his father had fallen into an illness that resulted in his father not being able to work instead of him.
“Kaipuhankaya,Kuya.Daemanmaka-trabahosiPapatanaghihilang kaya,” Balinsayo shared.
For them, their current state doesn’t give them the luxury to choose what to do. Before even dreaming of playing, they are compromised of working for the benefit of their starving household.
“Minamansanamakuwakipang-gastosmitadaemankamingibang pwedengmakuwaan.Akomanpatiangpanganay,” He added.
According to him, he had assumed the role of being the provider of his family because most of his siblings are still too young to even fetch a pale of water.
“Saraditon pa man ang mga tugang ko. Kaya ako na sana muna ang kaipuhanmag-sakripisyo,” He said.
He is only one of countless children who came before him to work in a mine at an early age confronted by the calls of their stomachs. The dysfunctional social system that feds from the charity that they are certain will not be forthcoming has long disappointed them in being saved from this multigenerational cycle.
DIGGING DREAMS
Miners’ Lineage
‘Mga para mina,’ is how people would describe residents of Dap-Dap. For so long, most of the Dap-Dap folks had considered mining as their main source of income given to the small-scale mines that operate in the barangay’s premises.
According to Elsa Bernaldez, a resident and a worker in mines for over 30 years, mines have sustained the barangay’s economy. Without mines, most households would fall directly into a worsened state of poverty.
“Poonpakaitotalagangpag-miminanadigdiangpagka-buhay.Pagdai kiminatalaganggrabeangnararanasannapagtioskankadamgapamilya,” Bernaldez said.
Aside from her, her children had also worked in mines starting in their childhood. Their family is among the miners’ lineage that continuously depends on the bounty of coals mined near their homes.
Irvin Santillan, Jr., the barangay’s chairperson, recognized that many children have been forced to work in mines, however, even the local executives remain powerless to resolve the problem because of insufficient allocation of funds.
“Makahirakon man ngani talaga iyan na mga aki ta aratabunon pa magtrabaho.Kudi,waramantalagakipangmatagalannasuportanamatatao ang barangay sainda lalo na kung talagang pagbawalan iriyan diyan na magralaogsaminatasiguradonggrabeanpagtiosangkapalit,”Santillan said.
According to him, the barangay always checks on the mines’ workers and ensures that no minors will be permitted to enter the mines. He said that children could only work as helps in mines, but not as actual miners.
“Iyan na mga aki pa, pigbabawalan mi talaga iyan magtrabaho sa laog kan mina. Uyan sana na pagsako niyan pagpili ki dalipay an pwede sainda ipagibotamasmakahirakmankungtalagangpaalionsaminataposdaeman matawankisustenersapagkabuhay,” Santillan added.
Bernaldez and many other mothers have been working in mines as coal cleaners and packagers. Despite the barangay’s effort to prevent minors from working inside the mines, there are still a few who still risk going inside the dark hollows and chasing their fate of survival.
“May mga nakaka-laog man guiraray na mga menor de edad sa laog kanminatanagdarakulanaiyansapagtrabahosaminakayamaskipapano tarataonatalaga.Masgustonakayanindanasalaogmismomagtrabahota masdakolsiyempreangganada,” Bernaldez revealed.
Meanwhile, Balinsayo also shared that many of his age choose to risks rather than see their family drowning in poverty. Most of the time, the wage from cleaning, sorting, and packing coals won’t be enough to support their whole family’s daily needs.
“Dae naman kaya kakayanon minsan kung pagpili sana kan dalipay, marahalonnamankayangunyananbarakalonkayamaskimatuasanasakuya kidiitnagraralaognaansamina,” Balinsayo shared.
The barangay council has been working on projects that can hopefully eradicate the problem. Given the lack of resources, they also have been in partnership with other non-governmental organizations for the welfare of the children.
“Maray ngani ta maski papano nakakatao man ki tabang iyan na mga NGOs,lalonasuBountifulChildren’sFoundationnanagtataoninkunsumolalo nakigatassamgakaakiannanangangaipuhan.KayauyansiDhen(referring tohersister)annag-aasikasopirminamatabanganmanlaloiyannamgaaki,” Santillan added.
Aside from the alarming child labor cases present in the barangay, most children are also suffering from malnutrition. Fortunately, organizations like Bountiful Children’s Foundation have been closely working with the barangay in providing children with food supplements, clothes, toys, and a monthly supply of milk.
DIGGING DREAMS
Dalipay Fate
Dalipay is a mud-like stone that is found along with coals. These stones are rough and brittle that have not yet been metamorphosized into coal minerals that have been of high value for the resident miners.
Like Dalipay, miners like Jeremy, are too young to work in a physically demanding workplace such as mines. Their limbs, perhaps too brittle as dalipays, are not suitable for the rigorous work of miners but somehow found their way to challenge their physical delimitations and forcefully prematurely metamorphosized just to survive the ill of their fate.
Because of its zero value compared to coals, dalipays are often discarded. The issue of child labor in many mining places in the municipality has been discarded and neglected. The children of Dap-Dap are also often neglected. Their case had been heavily normalized and despite its alarming implications, the cycle goes on.
When asked about why he continues to work in times despite the dangers it imposes, Jeremy argued that he had no choice. His young mind has been determined to risk in exchange for the food that they share on their table after an aching day working in mines.
“Wara naman ki choice, pag mina na sana talaga an pag-asa ta ngani kami may makaon. Pag dae ka man nag-trabaho sa mina, dae ka man na kakaunon,” Balinsayo said.
According to him, he chose to sacrifice every day because he loves his family. He decided to stop going to school and worked instead because of his filial love.
“Siyempre, maski anong sabihon, padaba ko man po sina Mama, Papa, niyanangmgatugangkokayamaskidipisilnamag-minanasanaimbesmageskwela,talaganginimanguirarayanpipilionko,” He shared.
Like many other children and much so like his father, Jeremy dropped out of school weeks after he started working in mines. This had been the problem of the community as most households, despite free education, cannot financially support children pursuing higher - or at some point, even primary education because of extreme poverty.
To be sure, it is not extreme poverty and lack of resources’ monopoly that prevent children from being saved from working in mines that serve as their dream graves and from dropping out of school, but the neglect of the higher offices that have the power and resources to allocate more funds to support more sustainable interventions relative to the problem.
DIGGING DREAMS
Treasure Beneath
After dalipays, there comes the treasure that feeds the residents, the coal. Residents at Dap-Dap find hope that despite the problem, they will soon be able to cut the intergenerational problem that looms over their dreams of having a life that won’t force children to work or stop them from going to school and from playing in the meadows of their innocent dreams.
“Sanatalaganagumaannamananbuhaymitamaskimanakodaekoman gustonamagingparaminahabangbuhay,” Balinsayo shared.
Elsa likewise shared that she doesn’t want her children to be stuck in mines. According to her, it also pains her to see how they can’t sufficiently provide for their family which forced her children to work on their own accord.
“Sisaymananginanagustongmahilingnadaenamakahalisapag-minaan mgaakininda.Talagangmakulogmansabootkonasindanagtitioskankaka-piko kankarbon,kayakunigwasanangibangpaagikipagkabuhay,natapamandae baluonnamaghalisapag-mina,” Bernaldez said.
This had been echoed by Embot Balinsayo, Jeremy’s father, saying that it also pains him to see Jeremy work instead of him to provide for their family.
“Malainonnamahilingnaangakimonaiyoanmagtrabahoimbisnaika.Grabe mannganianhirakkobudapagbasolkonaakonagkahilang,” Embot Balinsayo abashedly said.
To help end the issue, the barangay council said that they have been planning to capacitate every household in the barangay by providing more sustainable livelihood interventions. They intend to start with households like Jeremy’s and Elsa’s families to save children from the seemingly decade-long inherited fate of many marginalized families.
“Kamikayanagpaplanomannamasi-trainankadapamilyanamasmagkaigwa ki mas maray na pag-agi ki pagka-igwang hanap buhay. Mapoon kami sa mga talagang nagtitios para sinda maturuan pano mag hanap ki pagkabuhay sa masligtasnapaagi,siyempredapatmaykasabaymanannatalagangtabangna makasustenersaindamaskipapano,” Santillan said.
Aside from the livelihood interventions, the Barangay Health Workers (BHW) have been tasked by the barangay to encourage out-of-school youth to re-enroll in schools and continue their studies with the support and guidance of the barangay officers and their parents.
Their journey to acquire the treasure of having a better life for children is still far from being realized, however, they are leaning nearer towards their dreams.
Rapu-Rapu had long been known as one of the major mineral sources in the province and the country. If only with the proper interventions that are leaning more toward sustainable measures, the town could’ve been one of the richest municipalities in the region.
Because of the intense geopolitical mess that sacrificed the whole municipality, many areas had been utilized improperly that instead of helping the town’s residents, had further worsened their conditions.
In 2009, the then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a contract with an international company named, ‘Lafayette’ that mined many parts of the town. Until now, the environmental repercussions of irresponsible mining are still being felt by the residents.
The residents call for more measures that can support environmental preservation and restoration. Fortunately, the damaging mining operations were stopped because of the united amplified voices that criticized its operations.
Truly, the town of Rapu-Rapu, particularly Dap-dap, with more vigilance and sustainable interventions to fight poverty, child labor, and lack of education, can find its treasure from the lessons of mines. And, that is - doing actions to solve the problem fueled by the treasure beneath adversities. Hope.
DIGGING DREAMS
NHAD WRITES: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reinnard Balonzo has been a writer for over 12 years, mostly in school publications and as a poet in his room where the liberty of ideas and pillars of creativity find their way to his pen. The ink bleeds tears that take him to his dreams, the same ink that he uses to write his purpose which led him to the responsibilities he holds dear for the community he dreams of being truly free - away from starvation, oppression, and any injustices, a very advocate and diplomat thing to say, indeed.
Truly, this young man’s seven major advocacy priorities revolve around human rights, opportunity pathways for impoverished children, food security and poverty interventions, elimination of political violence, progressive environmental restoration movements, local-based cultural practices preservation, and responsible use of media and information as instruments of social order and justice. These causes inspired him to work as a researcher who explores the grassroots of the community, particularly when it comes to sustainable interventions and gender equality.
Because of his desire to work on more community-based programs and capstones, he was employed by his hometown’s local government unit to undertake cultural research for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). His interest in the study had made him a greater public servant than he expected him to be.
This young advocate, writer, and diplomat, is now ready to accept new life-changing opportunities that will let him be the instrument for the communities he dedicates his life to. A chance that will allow him to chart his course in pursuit of his higher purpose.
Dedication
To all the children who may not have the love and justice that they so well-deserved, especially to the young miners in Dap-Dap, Rapu-Rapu, Albay, and their respective families. Together, we’ll end this multigenerational cycle of poverty.
Cordially, Kuya Nhad
DIGGING DREAMS
VIA | REINNARD BALONZO
The Story of Young Miners in Dap-Dap, Rapu-Rapu, Albay
An investigative feature on the heavily normalized child labor cases among marginalized sectors in far-flung rural places in Albay.
