BASURERO (SCAVENGER)

Reporter: Jay Taruc

Casts:

Jennifer – one of the persons who eats food from waste (scavenger).
Jessie – one of the 500 “tambakeros” in Tondo Manila.
Jr – he died in the garbage place in Tondo Manila because he was crushed by bulldozer.

Synopsis:

The news article “Basurero” deals with one of the ceaseless social problems in the Philippines – garbage. This story gave a picture in mind of the different ways of living of “basureros or scavengers” – people who live off garbage. The first case was a family who lives in an overpass in Cubao. They are called “magbabatchoy” or a person who collects and eats waste. They look for food in the trash – usually from fast food restaurants. They were asking permission from the guard if they could overlooked at their garbage. They were struggling for the leftovers of the customers such as: “buto-buto”, leftover fishes or vegetables, and others, which they re-cook when they got home. But sometimes they eat it on the spot.
One of these persons is Jennifer. She and her family were waiting for the waiter to put their garbage outside so that they could overlook it. They are doing it at night so that they would not be recognized. She was doing this just something to have something to eat. They are heating this food so that the germs will be killed. They have a house in Marinduque but they don’t have food to eat there. For most people it is garbage, but for them it is something that sustains their family.
The night they covered that segment, “mambabatchoy” tend to dare Jay Taruc. They prepared a plateful of leftovers and asked him to eat with them. Unfortunately Jay did not manage to disagree. They were all laughing at him and were waiting for him to eat and it took him sometime before he dug in and got a spoonful. And, he also gave his crew their share.
Thousands of the Filipinos were dwelling on the streets that were made of cartons. Many are also begging on the streets as we can see in Quiapo and other places here in Manila. They have dirty feet and their homes were built from garbages. They also gather their food in the garbage.
Pier 18 Tondo Manila is the biggest dumpsite in the Philippines. It replaced the Smokey Mountain after it had been closed. 500 “tambakeros” were there, and half of them were children. Few of them were voluntarily helping their parents. One of them was Jessie. He was called “putol” or maimed, because his hand was cut. It’s been his 3 years as a “tambakero” and he was used of working. He said he can have some money in the garbage.
One of the young scavengers had already died. His name is Jr. He worked there to help his family. He was earning 300-500 a day, and he was ignoring the tiredness just to earn, but unfortunately, his work became the reason for his death. He was crushed by bulldozer.
Some of the scavengers are using illegal drugs. Some say that being a scavenger is the worst child labor because they were exposed to dirt and chemicals. One of them had reach the age 50 in the garbage-life. One can say that in this place, all the ill things are here. Most of them have perseverance and industrious, because if not they won’t persist in gathering garbages. They are struggling for garbages.
Jay Taruc, a newscaster did a bit of role-playing during the production of “Basurero”. He played the part of the scavenger and he spent two hours in the dumpsite looking for plastic bottles and cans. He was been wounded because of garbage cans, but he only earned P6 for a basket full of trash.
Poverty is the topmost problem in our country of all time. It is said to be widely spread especially nowadays in urban cities such as; Quezon City and other areas of Metro Manila. Jay Taruc's “Basurero” unraveled the depressing situation of many Filipinos who feed on leftover food, now called “Batchoy”. This documentary merely emphasized the effect of the poverty in every family. It made them much more willing to do anything, everything in order to find some resources of food and shelters-even in dump sites without thinking the effects to their health and lives.
All the people live in dump site have one interest and work which is “pagbabasura/basurero”. They depend there meals and needs in garbage, but the most critical situation of the scavenger’s are the exposure in different diseases and contaminated materials that brought diseases like; skin disease, respiratory illness, etc. Everyday, they risk there life in order to fill those hungry stomach and most of the scavengers in dump site are young and innocent to know the possibilities accident or sickness that they can get. They forcedly do crimes in order to have money for there needs and foods for there families.

Commentaries:

I salute them because despite of their poverty, they were not doing illegal means just to survive. Trash has been a great additional pollution to our country. We must dispose our garbage properly because if not, it can cause air and water pollution that may bring about diseases. Also, we need to have waste management or the recycling of materials that can still be used. If we just throw, and just throw away garbage in any places, the next generation will just be filled with trash. I just heard news this night, and Arnold Clavio said that it takes 10 days for a plastic to fade away, a year for a can and a Styrofoam could never fade. So, let us imagine what will happen to the world if we don’t recycle the garbage.
The episode of i-witness is making me melancholic because I know that there are many wealthy people in this world but only a few of them help these persons. Can’t they feel pity? If only I could prescribe them a medicine, I would give them a dose of reality.
I think the government must do an action now. There must be a unity between government and people. Government must focus in our social problem including overpopulation, corruption, poverty, trash, drug-abuse, homelessness, child labor, sanitary problems, health problems, environmental problems and many others. In this kind of documentary, people are becoming more aware of the reality, reality about the lives of poor Filipino people who suffers a lot.
Every documentary is an opening for awareness. It opens up our mind, that we, the middle class people are still very blessed of not experiencing those kinds of lives — Lives with garbage.
I also believe that overpopulation caused the too much garbage in our country, because we are the ones who are throwing it away in the rivers, lakes, and in many other places. More people, more garbages. The people must also have environmental awareness – by learning to appreciate the things that are brought about by nature.