All About Newsboys

CEBU, Philippines - Everybody reads the newspaper, from the man in his crisp linen suit, to the man selling salted peanuts and cheap cigarettes. Everybody finds news everywhere, from a convenience store nearby to an Android phone – or from a newsboy.

They wake up at dawn, rushing through the city streets and right before the sun is out, they elbow their way through crowds, to sell their newspapers. They aren't just members of the labor force who run after cars to make ends meet. They are real voices, waiting to be heard.

They are the news boys.

“Daghan mi. Bisa’g asa nga stoplight, naa mi, (There are many of us. At every stoplight, you see us)," says Mark Gamboa, 24, a newsboy selling for nearly 11 years.

News companies earn a hundredfold while a regular news boy earns so little in return. Gamboa mentions that he only receives P300 a day. Just like any other newsboy though, he finds more ways to survive, especially with a family to provide for.

“Plano nako kay lain pangwarta. Ing-ani, nga minyo na 'ta, naa nami'y anak usa pero lisod oi… lisod mangita (I plan to find other ways of earning. I'm married and we have one child so it's still difficult. It's difficult to earn a living),” Gamboa said. This is his only means of living but he is happy with it. “Mao ra ni, wa na'y lain pero uyon na tingali ko ani (This is what I do, nothing else, but I think I'm content with this).”

While adult news boys make a living for their families, they too, worry about the children who work day in and out. Such young men who are supposed to be in playgrounds, wander around traffic jams as juvenile entrepreneurs.

Flores Jayle, 40, a pioneer, has been selling newspapers for 15 years. He shares a day in the life of a newsboy. It starts around five in the morning, right after sunrise. One has to be out in the streets.

“Plano nako mohunong. Didto mopuyo sa probinsya, sa'kong asawa ba. Kung nakahuman gyud ko'g skwela, mas maayo gyud motrabaho sa gawas (I plan to stop news selling and live in the province with my wife. Had I finished schooling, I could have found a better job abroad),” Jayle said.

Despite how long it has been, he still continues to anticipate the day of his return to the province.

According to the “Video Documentary: Plight of Newsboys” produced by Mass Communication students from St. Theresa's College in 2000, there are “at least three million Filipino children who are believed to be working in agriculture, in production work, community or personal services and sales.”

There are an estimated 800 newsboys in Cebu City and 200 of them are children.

While other teenage girls worry about what outfit to put on, Amily Flores worries about not selling enough newspapers at the end of the day. She has been a newsgirl since she was eleven. She is now 17.

She sells within the area of F. Cabahug Street in Mabolo. When she's not carrying papers, she sells water. Her daytime job begins at 6 a.m. She then goes to a public night high school after selling. “Kay ako naman la'y nabilin sa'kong parents, ako na'y namaligya. Akong mga maguwang sauna, maninda pud sila unya nangaminyo naman. So, ako nalang ang nitabang sa'kong papa (Since I'm the only one left living with my parents, I have taken over selling newspapers. My older siblings were also news boys but they are now married so I am left helping my father),” Flores explains.

Her daily income is only about P100. On Sundays, when the prices of dailies are higher, her earnings increase. But her earnings are not for her studies alone as she has to give her father a portion of it.

Luckily for Flores, one of her regular customers promised to be her sponsor in her schooling. “Ang akong ganahan kay business management. Sa NCAE (National Career Assessment Examination) nako, enterprising man ang field nako (I want to take up business management. Based on my National Career Assessment Examination, being enterprising fits me),” says Flores. She plans to study at Cebu Normal University very soon.

 She wishes to still sell newspapers in the future, but seated in an office, and perhaps selling bottled water in between jobs.

Raymond Rosales, 15. “Mata unya gawas unya trabaho. Dugay naman ko diri (I wake up and then got out of work. I've been selling for a long time now).”

Rosales tried being a student once but eventually stopped. He only receives P50 a day for his own survival.

“Tigumon ra man ni nako. Akong ginikanan sad, matag-semana, mangayo, (I save what I earn but my parents visit me every week to ask for ther share),” says Marvin Gonzales, 14. He also mentions that he lives with eight other newsboys in the home of their news dealer, a relative, whom they address as “Jik-Jik.”

 Jik-Jik, 30, has been selling newspapers since he was in his teens. “Tig-hagbong ko sa ilang news, dosyentos kabuok nga Sun.Star (I distribute the newspapers to them-200 copies of Sun.Star paper).”

The boys came to know newspaper selling through family ties, making it into a little family business.

“Ganahan man ko makatrabaho og nindot. Ma-doctor… bisa'g unsa para maka-trabaho lang (I want to have a decent job. I could be a doctor – anything just to work),” Gonzales adds.

Gonzales says that leaving his family to go to work was his own choice.

A production head of The FREEMAN, Cahms Allego, describes the nature of the work of these news boys. “It's dangerous because they're in the streets. But we cannot also blame their status.Kana sila, mga pobre gyud and they're looking for ways para maka-earn sila (Those boys are very poor and they're looking for ways to earn),” Allego says. He mentions that it's an advantage for these boys to be as young as they are, because customers would most likely feel sympathetic towards them hence, more earnings.

 These boys would do anything to augment their parents' income. Some have been at work for so long that they forget when they started. These newsboys accept the sad reality that they're working due to poverty so they sell to provide the family's basic needs or if the parents can't provide, they do the providing for themselves. And the only leisure these boys know of is to catch up on some sleep, waiting for another tomorrow.

Despite this reality, they still walk until their feet hurt, with the weight of newspapers in their arms. These are young foot soldiers, ready to march their way to make a living.

We all have stories to tell – even those who just sell paper.