Slum trap for Philippine
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MANILA — Few things scare Philippine grandmother Maria Luisa Bernardo, who has dodged fires and fought off demolition crews in a tough Manila slum for more than half her life.
But one is the prospect of returning to her northern home province, where the 44-year-old mother-of-five and grandmother-of-six fears she and her extended family could starve to death.
“It’s beautiful in the province, there is no congestion,” said Bernardo, a high school graduate who is one of 30,000 informal settlers of North Triangle, one of Manila’s largest shantytowns.
“But without land to farm you end up going hungry. Here, at least, there’s an opportunity to earn a little money,” she told AFP while sitting on the floor of a shanty she shares with a son, his girlfriend, and their two babies...... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110629com5.html
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