Reality Check: The Ironies of the "Sisid Kids" and Jasmine
Jasmine. The only girl in a pool full of 'sisid boys'' as she shyly answers our questions asked to her.
One of the boys. Jasmine as one of the 'sisid boys' at the side of Embarcadero De Legazpi taken last September 17, 2016.
It was one Saturday afternoon when the news team wandered off in the vicinity of Legazpi to search for possible news. But the team, came upon strolling towards Embarcadero De Legazpi or popularly known here in Legazpi as Embarcadero, a kind of mall situated near the port of Legazpi since it also has fast food chains, clothing shops and many more
As we approach Embarcadero we saw kids swimming through the sea side under the stirring heat of the 3pm sun. At first glance we thought that they’re just spending some fun time. But, as we entered through Embarcadero, there were also another set of kids screaming at the same time swimming on the left side of the mall where the sea side is at.
“Teh, digdi teh!”
“Maski piso lang, teh!”
“Tapuka na digdi, teh!”
That’s what the kids were shouting. What were they shouting for? Guess what. They were shouting to throw them some coins and they’ll immediately get it under the water before it completely sink. In short, they were like fishes trying to earn some money
Later on, as we threw a five peso coin, just as we thought all of them were boys there was a young little girl swimming through the waves along with the sea full of boys. Though she wasn’t the one who got our 5 peso coin, we found out that the girl is Jasmine.
Jasmine is as young as ten years old. She swims along with his mates Mike Ray, Bombay, Billy Jay and other more kids.
“Wala. Trip lang” Mike Ray when we asked why do they swim or sisid to throw them coin while Jasmine just smiled and said nothing.
Jasmine seems too thin for her age. Her mom works as a Janitress in Ayala Malls while her dad is working as a construction worker. When asked what she would like to be in the future, she wants to be a teacher. When asked why, “Para matulungan ang mga bata” she answered shyly.
Ironies
It’s not a sad story, neither a happy story. It’s an ironic evidence that:
1.) These kids seems to be fishes but instead of feeding them fish treats, people threw pennies because why not? You rarely get to see kids swimming enthusiastically take note in the sea side where large sea vessels put their stocks at bay. The people in the malls look at them as little divers who has amazing diving skills and guess what...
2) It is ironic because these kids swim for their leisure or for their play time and at the same time they dive for coins because of poverty. They make “sisid” because it’s one way for them to have money while on the other side of the coin, some kids spend their play time on playgrounds, reading books on a land surfaced area.
3) It is ironic because beside Embarcadero is a great wall and behind that is Victory village where it doesn’t even look victorious and looks like an area for informal settlers and, here are the victory kids swimming beside a commercial mall trying to look funny and entertaining through their “sisid skills” just to get a little amount of penny in addition to their ‘baons’.
4) It is ironic to see that among these sisid kids there is this “sisid girl” named Jasmine. That as young as nine and as old as twelve they swim under the scorching heat of the sun and make it a point to use their leisure time as becoming fishes who is being fed through throwing those valuable shining pennies in the sea with polluted water coming from the mall’s sewage and sea vessel’s oil. We’re talking about their health here, their safety. It’s not entertaining to see them in fact it is alarming to watch them swim because there are even sea urchins in the water.
5) It is ironic to know that sisid girl “Jasmine” dreams to be a teacher someday and it’s ironic because some of the youth we have today takes advantage of the time that they must invest for their dreams. They get into unwanted leisure like drinking, smoking and involving into illegal drugs while this small young girl swims in a salty water, diving for coins and just wants to be a teacher to help other kids.
It is a reality check that poverty still exist. It is a reality check that along the great façade and structure of Embarcadero are kids who seems to be like fishes swimming and diving for coins for their small little income. It is a reality check that we can still stop them from diving into the polluted sea waters. It is a reality check that the society is still comprised of two faces. It is a reality check that we can still lend a helping hand to the 'sisid kids' and 'sisid girl' because of what danger may come in their way in the future.
