Over 3,000 Filipinos Live in Cemeteries

12/15/2016 - 12h01

For 35 years, Aurora Cura, 63, has lived in a cemetery in Pasay, in greater Manila. She raised her seven children there, four of which have built their own houses using parts of the tombs, the headstones or even, in the case of the Cura's family home, the trees in the cemetery.

Of Cura's grown-up children, one works as a waiter in a restaurant and another is employed in an electricity company; two others work providing services and selling things in the cemetery.

Cura moved to Pasay when her husband died and she could no longer pay for rent. She makes a living by looking after the tombs and selling food and cigarettes.

The best time for business is the week of All Souls' Day, when local families virtually set up camp in the cemeteries, staying there all day or all night.

On All Saints' Day, Cura normally sells cigarettes for 5 pesos each. A whole pack costs 60 pesos, and she manages to profit 40 pesos (some R$ 4) per package.

Cura's only daughter, Mary Anne Pelaez, also lives in the cemetery with her own five children. The oldest, who is 19 years old, is studying business administration in college.

"Living in the cemetery is nice, it is a calm place," says Pelaez, who did not vote for President Rodrigo Duterte, but supports the war on drugs currently promoted by the president.

Nobody has been killed in the Pasay cemetery, which houses 50 families and some 250 people, since the election.

However, in the biggest cemetery in Manila, the North, the Police Station 3's antidrug operation killed one person and arrested a dozen people among its 3,000 residents.

OVER THE LIMIT

Pelaez managed to pay for her son's college tuition - 9,000 pesos per semester, plus subsidy - and she is part of the group of 26% of Filipinos above the country's poverty line, according to 2015 data of the department of statistics.

In the extreme poverty group, there is 12.1% of the population. The Philippines' economy has been growing 7% a year, but the price of poverty is still high: Unicef says that 30% of the children under five years of age suffer consequences of malnutrition.

Only 43% of the population has running water and 60% die without any medical assistance in their lives. Of every ten poor families, three do not have access to electricity. In Manila, Folha found adults who have never had any documents.

FEW SOLUTIONS

"The country's labor laws do not favor stability, and the lack of good education does not allow access to good jobs. Also, the corruption in the government prevents public services from getting to the people," says the assistant bishop of Manila, Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo, 61.

A major part of middle class chose to leave the country - there are 10 million Filipinos living abroad, which correspond to 10% of the population. Without qualification, those who stay build huge slums made of wood boards and pieces of plywood.

The slums grow and merge with dumping grounds and reach the waters of the bay and canals. Or even their own tombs.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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