Manila, Philipines The sugar industry in the Philippines has all but collapsed, but the people in the province of Negros Occidental—the sugar bowl of the Philippines—have nothing else to export. The road from the airport to Victorias City cuts through miles of sugarcane, spread out flat in green and brown fields to the edges of the island. Trucks line the road with the harvested cane stacked high in their beds. We pass a truck that has overturned, spilling its load along the side of the road. Sister Ching tells us that the stacks of cane have been known to collapse on the workers while they are loading the trucks, and many of the workers are children. The price of sugar has fallen so far that an adult’s wages are not enough to support a family, and children must work to supplement the family income. The long hours of labor harm their physical development, and if they are working every day in the sugar fields, they cannot attend school.

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