This post is published for Blog Action Day 2008.

A huge fire engulfed the homes of hundreds of families in that area beside the Loyola Memorial Chapels, a little past 2AM on July 5, 2008. We were driving down the opposite EDSA lane and headed for Boni when we saw it happen. Something suddenly hit me: sh*t, fire got the slums!

When huge fires such as this one hit a depressed area, the first thing that comes in my mind is “arson.” Generations ahead of us would recount similar occurrences in the past involving some real estate developer and this land owner striking this particular deal to build some high-rise project in city X if only they can clear the slums first, something I’d usually frown upon when I was little. Then again, since these shanties are tightly woven onto each other for maximum floor area per unit, an instance of fire caused by a mosquito-coil-to-flammable-cloth-contact may spread to cover the entire perimeter in minutes.

Make-shift houses made from wood scraps, mismatched GI sheets, salvaged plywood, and used tarpaulins are common in every key city all over the Philippines. Even the periphery of Makati’s Central Business District teem with slums in parts. These commonly damp places serve as homes to thousands of impoverished families, mostly hailing from the provinces and lured by dreams of making it big in the metro (another urban legend courtesy of elders from before my generation, pffft). Some families, as recounted, had continuously been “squatting” on private property for more than 18 years.

When I was young, I’d see Imelda Marcos’ “Bliss” housing projects on the way to Fort Bonifacio and exclaim, “Nay! parang ansarap ng dyan nakatira, no?” At times when we do our yearly CSR, I’d sometimes sadly entertain the idea that Gawad Kalinga projects appear to be more proactive when it comes to action for this cause, cooperating with private individuals and corporations to reclaim land and build homes that can serve as relocation sites for our underprivileged countrymen.

I hope our next batch of leaders would have it in their agenda to allot more budget to jump start and re-energize the housing project for the poor. Besides, decent housing will make for a cleaner and more orderly metro when we rid the surroundings of their less-livable urban for infrastructures. Just practice great vigilance to be absolutely sure that only the truly deserving can get to enjoy the aid.

Fast forward to October 2008. I was using the overpass one night when I remembered the fire incident. I looked down to my right and saw, to my surprise, a fairly new slum community constructed using new mismatched GI sheets and fairly new ads printed on used tarpaulins. I guess it’s safe to say that poverty prevailed (long live the queen!).

Voices in the video are contributed by road trip homies: Bim, Lauren, Anne, and Penny. Related news article about featured “fire” can be found here, covered by DJ Yap of Inquirer.net