A Satire: Meet the Ninjas in the Trash

Meet one of the ninjas in the trash. He trashes amongst the debris looking for something useful to fill his churning stomach. He covers his head with a pink cap with overhanging shirt to hide his face from shame. His medium frame is covered with light red shirt ending in a long black sleeve while holding garbage refuse to make his day. The used up fluorescent lamp appears to be his light saber, ready for action. This ninja in the trash would is atypical of other ninjas because he doesn’t cover his nose and mouth as he sorts out the garbage.

The Price of Migration and Urbanization

Such scenario has become common in the last few years in the once sparsely populated, quiet, orderly and clean city of Puerto Princesa in the western part of the Philippines. The continued migration of people from many places in the Philippines converted the city into one of the cities with the highest migration rate in the country. According to City Development Strategies in the Philippines (2007), Puerto Princesa’s migration rate is 4.55 % where in-migration is one of the biggest contributor. Puerto Princesa has become a melting pot of various cultures due to the almost incessant influx of migrants from other provinces and even other countries.

While the people have high regard for the environment, the brunt of economic development also brought with it the common problems associated with urbanization. There are ninjas in the trash sorting out whatever their hands could find – unwary of things around them but focusing intently on their trade.

Banned from the Sanitary Landfill

A few years back, this author together with his students studied these ninjas in the trash in the sanitary landfill where they used to congregate. Yes, they really look like ninjas in their common attire probably to defend themselves from the stench, flies as well as skin exposure to possible diseases that the dirty trash bring. They would use a stick to sort out the garbage, looking out for half-rotten vegetables, used clothes, metals, recyclable cans and bottles, old toys, paper, among others. They do this every day all year round unmindful of their demeaning situation. The ninjas in the trash would repeatedly mutter “There is money in the trash, there is money in the trash” as if it is their chosen mantra. The ninjas in the trash seem to be in a hypnotic state walking like zombies or autistic persons gathering round the refuse of the city all throughout the day.

These scavenging activities would have persisted had not the city government at one point prohibited them from staying and doing their thing in the landfill. Banned from the sanitary landfill, the ninjas in the trash have nowhere to go. They could not find a better job because many of them have not even attended school. It’s their only way to keep up with urban living.

Despite efforts to curb these scavenging activities, the ninjas in the trash continued to proliferate in the streets especially when dusk sets in. Now, they have become bolder. Without warning, the ninjas in the trash prowl the streets and attack the trash bins in the middle of the day. Meet the ninjas in the trash.

©Patrick Regoniel 31 August 2010

City Development Strategies (2007). Puerto Princesa CDS Report. Retrieved on 31 August 2010 at http://rdurmiendo.brinkster.net/cds/db/admin2.asp?function=gendisp&ID=216&tab=CDS__City.