'Will trade Nikes for chicken': Millions stripped of jobs barter possessions for food
05 September, 2020
Struggling to make ends meet, Lorraine Imperio swapped some Nike slip-on shoes for a complete dressed chicken on an online bartering site, among dozens that have sprouted up through the Philippines’ virus lockdowns.
With millions stripped of their jobs and many forced to remain home to slow the coronavirus spread, Filipinos have flocked to Facebook groups to exchange their possessions, including appliances for the kitchen, children’s toys and designer handbags-mostly for food.
“It’s so difficult nowadays. You don’t know where you’ll get the money to settle the bills for groceries,” said Imperio, a mother of two whose husband works part-time at a doughnut shop in Manila.
His hours have already been slashed due to the pandemic and he now only earns about 9,000 pesos ($185) per month, half of which is employed to pay the rent for the family’s apartment.
Online bartering groups have provided a lifeline to the Imperios and other Filipinos hit hard by the country’s months-long virus restrictions that started in March and have sent the economy plunging right into a deep recession.
At least 98 groups, some with thousands of members, are operating over the archipelago, according to an AFP tally.
Nearly all of these started through the pandemic as many Filipinos resorted to the ancient trading practice to feed their own families.
Google search volume in the Philippines for the keywords “barter food” soared 300 percent in May from April, iPrice Group within a recently available study, as lockdowns squeezed household budgets and made travelling about difficult.
Its analysis of 85 popular Facebook barter groups, with an increase of than two million members altogether, found food and other groceries were being among the most sought-after items.
People post images and specifications of the products they would like to swap, indicate what they need in return and negotiate via the comments section.
After successfully bartering baby bottles that she no more needed, Imperio swapped a baby’s down jacket and a Ralph Lauren hoodie for six kilogrammes (13 pounds) of rice.
As the Nike slip-on shoes were traded for a chicken, another pair hasn't had any takers after three weeks.
“Old items are more challenging to sell,” the 28-year-old said. “With bartering, it’s easier to convert them into food.”
Swapping to survive
Jocelle Batapa Sigue launched Bacolod Barter Community four months ago out of frustration at not having the ability to go shopping and a desire to help others.
Her husband held the family’s only quarantine travel pass, which persons were required to carry if they left their homes through the lockdown.
“It’s problematic for me to get what I want when I tell my husband to buy it,” said Sigue, who's a legal professional in the central city of Bacolod.
The group has a lot more than 230,000 members with an increase of joining every day, she said.
Sigue estimates a large number of items-from shampoo and birthday cakes to cell phones and eyeliner-change hands on her site daily.
“Without the pandemic, I don’t think the barter community will be popular,” she said.
An estimated 5.2 million Filipino families had experienced “hunger due to lack of food to consume” at least one time in the last three months-the highest in nearly six years, a survey in early July by pollster Social Weather Stations showed.
But it is not simply cash-strapped persons bartering their belongings.
Others are taking the opportunity to get rid of goods they no longer need after quarantine measures upended normal life.
Chona de Vega, 57, traded her hair-straighter and electric kettle for a bag of groceries and today plans to get rid of her iron.
“I've no use for it,” said de Vega, who lives in Manila and spends the majority of her time in the home due to travel restrictions.
Charles Ramirez, who runs a 14,000-member bartering site in the administrative centre, said a “big percentage” of his group are in poverty and mostly require groceries.
“Folks are realising that while they have no money, they have accumulated a whole lot of material things (they are able to swap),” said Ramirez, who create his group in May after losing his job as a grocery wholesaler.
“It’s a depressing feeling, of course, needing to forget about things you have accumulated just to manage to survive.”
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