"I-Witness" features child wood collectors

They scour the streets daily, riding their pedicab to find scraps of wood they could still sell. They endure the heat of the sun and carry the weight of the collected wood just to earn enough money to bring home to their families.

Sandra Aguinaldo follows the lives of these child wood collectors and tries collecting scraps of wood in her first I-Witness documentary for 2009.

13-year old Benjie has been collecting wood scraps for five years. Benjie doesn't mind the heavy workload, because finding these pieces of wood gives him the money to provide for his mother and four siblings. He says his body has become accustomed to the daily grind of waking up early and combing the streets of Manila for morsels of lumber.

For siblings Jessie and Jordan, finding and selling wood is their only means for survival. The two minors are homeless and depend only on their earnings to pay for their growing debt in the carinderia where they buy their food daily.

The difficult yet hopeful lives of these kids unfold this Monday in Sandra Aguinaldo's I-Witness, airing during the January 5 episode after the late night newscast Saksi on GMA-7.