Naked from the waist up, their bodies covered in silver, Gerald and Adonis gingerly pour gunpowder into the carton-like cylinders using bare hands.
They work tirelessly from sunrise to sunset inside a small nipa hut located in the middle of a green rice paddy in Bulacan, the country’s fireworks capital. Four hundred meters from the road, it is accessible only by foot.
The silver powdery substance emits an offensive odor, but the two workers have already grown immune and find no need for face masks. “Pag nasanay na, wala na. Noong unang taon ko dito na nagtatrabaho, nagtatakip lang ako ng T-shirt lang ang gamit. Pero pag tagal, masasanay na ang katawan mo,” says Gerald, a 23-year-old native of Mindoro.
The nipa hut measures about 25 square meters divided into two rooms – the work place where Gerald and Adonis do their stuff and the packaging area where three others wrap up the finished products widely known as “lusis tungkod.”
Work starts in October and ends in the last week of December.
Adonis, the older of the two at 37, says he has been doing this since 2011. He says it pays better than the construction jobs they accept during the rest of the year.
Although pay seems lower – they get a maximum of only P7,000 a month – Adonis says they get free food and lodging.
“Ikaw ang gagawa ng sahod mo, Kung kuyakoy ka, walang mangyayari. Makakaipon ka kahit papaano dahil libre naman kain naming at tulugan namin. Hindi tulad ng sa construction, mas mataas nga sweldo mo, pero labas pa rin ibang gastos mo,” Adonis explains.
Workers are billeted in a separate house about 200 meters from their workplace.
They appear to be unmindful of the danger and health hazard the work poses.
They rid their bodies of the silver with detergent soaps. If they get sick, their medical bills are shouldered by the factory owners.
Gerald puts their predicament in light vein. “Gin lang katapat pag may nararamdaman,” he said.
The workers swear their operations are legal with papers to prove it. But whether they get properly compensated is another matter.
Non-plantation workers in Central Luzon have a minimum pay of P354, according to a news release from the Philippine News Agency. Gerald and Adonis only get P233, that is, if they reach the required quota.
It is not unlikely that conditions are replicated in other Bulacan backyard factories.
Despite poor safety standards and below government-mandated pays, some 100,000 workers are being lured each year to ensure that the country greets the New Year with a bang. (Mark Balmores)
