(Manila, 3rd) — In the densely populated Philippine capital of Manila, poverty is deeply rooted and millions are homeless, forcing some to 'compete for land with the dead' by seeking refuge in graveyards, turning many public cemeteries into slum communities.
The simple shack where 36-year-old Leilia's family of four lives is built right on top of two graves inside a cemetery in northern Manila. This 54-hectare cemetery is the final resting place of at least one million Filipinos and also the home for about 6,000 impoverished residents like Leilia.
Leilia makes a living selling candy, drinks, and biscuits to those visiting graves, earning about 3,000 pesos (around 216 ringgit) a month. She and her partner also tend to 30 graves; each year on November 1st and 2nd for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, she collects fees of 1,700 pesos per grave from families visiting their loved ones. However, this income is barely enough to scrape by and is far from sufficient for them to move out of the cemetery.
Leilia moved to the cemetery in 2008 after a family conflict in her suburban Manila home. She said, “Prices for basic necessities are so high now, it’s extremely difficult to improve our living condition.”
An ex-Philippine congressman estimated earlier this year that about 3 million people in Metro Manila lack adequate housing. A United Nations report from 2023 forecast that by 2024, as many as 22 million people in the Philippines may face housing difficulties.
Elifer, the head of the Kapatiran-Kaunlaran Foundation, which provides aid to cemetery residents like Leilia, told AFP that the trend of more people moving into cemeteries is worrying.
He said that in the past, only caretakers and their families lived in the cemetery, but now, even after their children start families, they continue to stay on.
Most people living in the cemetery say they only build shacks on graves with the permission of the families who own them, under the condition that they serve as caretakers to watch over and keep the graves clean.
These cemetery residents use existing electrical wires to get electricity and fetch water from nearby wells, paying three pesos per gallon.
But such a life is by no means a long-term solution. Daniel, the manager of the northern Manila cemetery, said: “This is a cemetery, a place for the deceased, not for the living. People should not be living here.”
He revealed that the Manila city government is trying to relocate these cemetery residents to permanent housing elsewhere, though he did not provide details.
Leilia said frankly that, given a choice, no one would want to live in a cemetery. Her 11-year-old son has been bullied at school because of their unusual circumstances, while her six-year-old daughter often draws all kinds of houses on the shabby walls of their home.
Leilia said, “Everyone dreams of having a house outside the cemetery, but it’s very hard, extremely hard.”
The simple shack where 36-year-old Leilia's family of four lives is built right on top of two graves inside a cemetery in northern Manila. This 54-hectare cemetery is the final resting place of at least one million Filipinos and also the home for about 6,000 impoverished residents like Leilia.
Leilia makes a living selling candy, drinks, and biscuits to those visiting graves, earning about 3,000 pesos (around 216 ringgit) a month. She and her partner also tend to 30 graves; each year on November 1st and 2nd for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, she collects fees of 1,700 pesos per grave from families visiting their loved ones. However, this income is barely enough to scrape by and is far from sufficient for them to move out of the cemetery.
Leilia moved to the cemetery in 2008 after a family conflict in her suburban Manila home. She said, “Prices for basic necessities are so high now, it’s extremely difficult to improve our living condition.”
An ex-Philippine congressman estimated earlier this year that about 3 million people in Metro Manila lack adequate housing. A United Nations report from 2023 forecast that by 2024, as many as 22 million people in the Philippines may face housing difficulties.
Elifer, the head of the Kapatiran-Kaunlaran Foundation, which provides aid to cemetery residents like Leilia, told AFP that the trend of more people moving into cemeteries is worrying.
He said that in the past, only caretakers and their families lived in the cemetery, but now, even after their children start families, they continue to stay on.
Most people living in the cemetery say they only build shacks on graves with the permission of the families who own them, under the condition that they serve as caretakers to watch over and keep the graves clean.
These cemetery residents use existing electrical wires to get electricity and fetch water from nearby wells, paying three pesos per gallon.
But such a life is by no means a long-term solution. Daniel, the manager of the northern Manila cemetery, said: “This is a cemetery, a place for the deceased, not for the living. People should not be living here.”
He revealed that the Manila city government is trying to relocate these cemetery residents to permanent housing elsewhere, though he did not provide details.
Leilia said frankly that, given a choice, no one would want to live in a cemetery. Her 11-year-old son has been bullied at school because of their unusual circumstances, while her six-year-old daughter often draws all kinds of houses on the shabby walls of their home.
Leilia said, “Everyone dreams of having a house outside the cemetery, but it’s very hard, extremely hard.”