Puerto Galera, Circa 2009
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I took this picture the first time I went to Puerto Galera with my college friends back in 2009. On our final hours in the island, I decided to have an alone time and went to the shore to get some snapshots with my then point-and-shoot camera. I spotted these children playing around the boat, diving underwater and swimming with the tides like the ocean was their very playground. I asked them if I could take a photo of them, to which they gamely complied. After the pose, they became a little chatty and revealed to me that their diving skills was a necessary tool of the trade - they dive for peso coins thrown underwater by visitors for entertainment.
Such pity, I realized. A peso thrown away just for a blink of puerile happiness. Why not give the coins directly to them?
It's been three years since I last went to the Puerto. These kids might have grown by a foot by now. I wonder if their fate is still the same though. Diving for coins, for pity, for your momentary joy.
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