Published: Tuesday, 29 July, 2025 04:35
Updated: Tuesday, 29 July, 2025 13:01
By: Agence France‑Presse
Dexter Barsigan has spent the past 13 years making a living with his bare hands and a pair of pliers, stripping scrapped laptops and air conditioners for metal he can sell to junk shops in the Philippines.But since his hands began aching and his vision started to blur three years ago, there have been days he can only watch his wife and nephew do the job for him.
The 47-year-old father of three is a "mambabaklas", the Filipino word for informal dismantlers who scavenge electronic waste for the nickel, aluminum and copper inside.