Philippines: five million live under bridges and in shanties

Manila – In Metro Manila, more than five million people (800,000 families) live in substandard housing and should be relocated, this according to Mgr Broderick S. Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila and head of the National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice and Peace (NASSA) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, who made a request to this effect to the government.

For years, the prelate, members of the government, priests and local leaders have been trying to find a solution to the problem. Too many urban poor live in shanties, under bridges, in creeks and riverbeds.

“When we met President Arroyo and other government officials about the relocation a couple of months ago, we were told that government would provide relocation land outskirt of Manila, namely in Bulacan, about 25 kilometres north of Manila,” Mgr Pabillo said. “But so far, nothing has happened.”

In the past, government officials used to tear down “illegally built” huts the poor used to live in. Many were told to travel to Bulacan, but all they found was barren land.

“Without an appropriate relocation plan, the whole thing will fail and it will be like dumping the poor in garbage,” said Fr Fernando Caprio, a priest with the Manila Diocese. “Any new settlement should come with drinking water, power, sanitation, schools and roads.”

Recent studies indicate that the average income in Manila suburbs is around US$ 135, not enough for families to raise their children.

Every day, children are forced to beg in the streets because they have nothing to eat.

As it waits for the government to respond, the Church has started to provide free meals in schools, giving children at least one opportunity to eat a day.