PhotoBlog - philippines,housing

23
Aug
2012
10:08am, EDT
Manila's hidden spaces: Life on the margins in a crowded megacity
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
John Harris stands next to his family: wife Remedios (who holds Joshua, 3), Jamie, 11, John, 16, and Joyce, 8, at the small space where they live under a bridge in Manila, Philippines on August 21, 2012 . John is a construction worker making 250 pesos ($6) a day. The family live in a small space under a bridge alongside many other impoverished families.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
Irish Romes, 19, holds her 2-week-old baby Jay at the place where she lives with her family next to a highway in the slums of Binondo, Manila on August 21, 2012.
Manila's population of 20 million people is rising by approximately a quarter of a million every year. Due to overcrowding a third of the Filipino capital's residents are forced to live on any bit of spare land they can manage, often in makeshift settlements under bridges, beside railway lines and even in cemeteries.
Large families are common in a conservative Catholic county that is pushing the government's already weak social care system to its limit.
See more of Getty Images photographer Paula Bronstein's work on population issues in the Philippines in Tuesday's post: Mothers give birth in an already overpopulated Manila.
Look back at PhotoBlog posts on Filipino housing issues and on the world's seven billion population milestone, reached in 2011.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A boy looks out from his home in a congested slum area of Manila on August 21, 2012.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A man stands next to the door of his room under a bridge in Manila on August 21, 2012. Families cram into small rooms under a bridge so they can live for free.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A man washes clothes as children look out from the small room under a bridge within which they live on August 22, 2012 in Manila.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A woman holds her daughter in their makeshift shack in the Binondo slums of Manila, which they rent for 1,000 pesos ($24) a month.
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6 comments
40% of the population lives on $4 a day or less. I visited there two times in 2010 and found the people very friendly, quite optimistic and hard working.
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20
Apr
2012
8:08am, EDT
Noel Celis / AFP - Getty Images
Firemen extinguish a fire at an informal settlers' housing area in Manila, Philippines, on April 20, 2012. Around 150 families from an informal settlement area lost their homes. Nobody was reported killed in the incident, according to local authorities.
Philippines fire destroys homes in impoverished district
See more images related to Filipino housing issues on PhotoBlog.
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11
Jan
2012
6:04am, EST
Violent clashes in Philippines city as homes are demolished
Rolex Dela Pena / EPA
Residents of a shanty community resisting eviction throw rocks at police and a demolition crew in Corazon de Jesus district of San Juan City, east of Manila, Philippines, on Jan. 11, 2012.
Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Contributor
A resident is collared by police during a violent demolition of homes in San Juan City on Jan. 11, 2012.
Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Contributor
Residents barricade a street to prevent police and demolition teams from demolishing their homes in San Juan City on Jan. 11, 2012.
Scores of people were hurt and dozens arrested during the disputed demolition of homes in San Juan City, east of Manila, Getty Images reports.
The demolition was carried out to make way for an extension of a new City Hall building, local government officials said. Residents have been occupying the space without permission for close to four decades and have rejected the government's offer to relocate them outside Metro Manila, citing loss of livelihood and lack of running water in the relocation site.
See more images related to housing issues on PhotoBlog.
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31
Aug
2011
6:35am, EDT
Rolex Dela Pena / EPA
Informal settlers try to block advancing police as authorities attempt to implement a court order to demolish shanties in Quezon City, east of Manila, Philippines, on August 31.
Filipinos clash with police over clearance of informal settlement
Informal settlers in the Filipino city of Quezon tried to stop police and a demolition team tasked with knocking down shanty houses in an area reportedly occupied by some 1,000 families, the EPA reported. According to AFP, the clearances were to pave the way for a property developer to take over the area.
Related content on PhotoBlog:

Pitched battle between Filipino squatters and demolition crew

Residents of Filipino city forced to start over after fire guts their homes
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28
Apr
2011
6:31am, EDT
Noel Celis / AFP - Getty Images
Demolition crew members throw rocks towards squatters during a demolition of a squatter area in Manila, the Philippines on April 28. The squatters lost their homes in a huge fire last week, and government orders to relocate them resulted in violence after the residents resisted the demolition teams.
Pitched battle between Filipino squatters and demolition crew
As previously noted on PhotoBlog, poor housing conditions and land disputes are serious issues in the Philippines.
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11
Apr
2011
7:37am, EDT
Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images
A resident tries to douse houses on fire in an informal settlement in Manila on April 11. Around 200 houses were gutted, with 600 families affected. The World Bank has said that 40 percent of the population of the Philippine capital are informal settlers living in shanty towns.
Resident of Manila slum tackles fire with bucket of water
By David R Arnott, NBC News
As we reported last week, fire is a frequent danger in shanty towns like this one.
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7
Apr
2011
5:19am, EDT
Residents of Filipino city forced to start over after fire guts their homes
Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images
A resident swims among debris and rubbish looking for recyclable materials after a fire gutted an informal settlement overnight in Malabon City, suburban Manila, the Philippines on April 7. Around a thousand residents were affected by the fire, but no casualties were reported.
Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images
Residents look for recyclable materials among debris and rubbish on April 7 after a fire gutted their settlement in Malabon overnight.
By David R Arnott, NBC News
This is the fourth time in as many months that we have reported on a devastating fire affecting the residents of slum housing in the Philippines. Last year, the East Asia Forum published an article on the challenges of providing better-quality housing for low-income Filipinos, reporting that public expenditure on housing is less than 0.1 per cent of the country's GDP. Without sustained investment, desperate scenes like those occuring in Malabon this morning seem likely to be repeated again and again.
13 comments
These photos clearly shows the despicable living conditions in the slums of Manila, Philippine Republic. These are good people, albeit no self respect. Good people who will swim in filth to gather recyclables to make money. In the slums, they don't care about sanitary conditions, they eat, they slee …
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25
Jan
2011
6:30am, EST
Clashes between residents and demolition crew in the Philippines turn violent
Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images
Residents hurl objects to prevent the impending demolition of their shanties on Jan. 25 in San Juan City in the Philippines. Corazon de Jesus village was set to be demolished today to make way for a new City Hall building, displacing residents who have been illegally settled on the government property for years.
Francis R. Malasig / EPA
Members of a demolition crew retaliate during a demolition of shanties in San Juan City. At least 40 people were injured as violence marred the demolition of a shanty town. The affected families threw bottles and rocks to the demolition team, who retaliated by spraying the residents with water from a firetruck. Police used tear gas against the residents. The houses in the area were to be demolished to pave the way for the new city hall.
Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images
Residents protest the impending demolition of their shanties.
Francis R. Malasig / EPA
An informal settler is kicked by a demolition crew during a demolition of shanties in San Juan City.
Francis R. Malasig / EPA
Anti-riot police fire teargas during a demolition of shanties in San Juan City.
By David R Arnott, NBC News
We posted a picture from the Philippines earlier today, but the protests appear to have escalated in the past few hours. Residents of San Juan City are angry because their homes are due to be demolished to make way for a new city hall.

2 comments
Easier said than done but informal settlements should never be allowed. They are unsafe and create urban eyesore. The governments, both local or national, should up their standards for the quality of housing, regardless of square footage; but then again, that is expecting too much given that we are …
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