To
some The Philippines is a satellite of America. To
others it is just another state. Manila looks like
a modern city in meltdown. The financial districts
are high-rise and glass fronts. But for millions of
people there is no access to that wealth. They are
the Urban Poor of the new megacities. They live in
shanties ravaged by typhoons and rats. Many work as
scavengers on gigantic garbage dumps like the one
at Payatas. Children have to work to help their families
survive. Babies die of preventable diseases like measles,
dysentery, and TB. Welcome to the Twenty-first century.
