29/10/11 True Manilla - Philippines

04/11/11 1 week in Luzon, Mainland Philippines

‘An assemblage of 7107 islands stretching some 1900km from the tip of Batanes to the Sulu archipelago, the Philippines stubbornly defies geographic generalisation. The typical island boasts a jungle-clad, mountainous interior and a sandy coastline flanked by aquamarine waters and the requisite coral reef.’ This is the opening description of the Philippines, according to the 10^th edition of the Philippines lonely plant guidebook. Tempted? We certainly were. So here we are in Palawan, just one of these stunning islands with sparkling emerald waters, white sandy beaches and endless opportunities for snorkeling with the fish. But first, I must recount to you our previous week spent in the main island of Philippines, Luzon.               

True Manilla

We flew to the capital, Manila, on Friday 28th last week. We turned up at a backpackers place called ‘Friendly’s Guesthouse’ recommended by the guide book and by Gigi. So there we were on arrival at Friendly’s guesthouse, wide-eyed and excited about our first proper backpacker destination. As it turned out, just a few hours after arriving we met a Filipino man over dinner at the guesthouse called Edwin, who told us his story. This shaped our whole view, experience and itinerary of our brief encounter with Manila. This is Edwin’s story:

Born in Manila as one of many street children, Edwin grew up on one of the largest shanty town communities (or ‘slums’) of Manila. As a young boy he would roam the streets begging for his daily bread until he chanced upon a kind, humanitarian American couple who would change his destiny forever. Aged 9 years old, they couple who were merely passing though Manila on holiday decided to sponsor him financially through his education, which is exactly what they did. 26 years on and Edwin is now well-educated, works part-time at Friendly’s Guesthouse, and is pursuing a career in acting, which has taken him to an international film festival across Europe. He continues regular contact with the American couple to this day.

A few packbackers got chatting to Edwin upon hearing of his roots, and expressed an interest to see what the real Manila is like – where he grew up – beyond the malls and the tourist spots, the sex-tourism industry which has a massive presence in the capital, and all the begging so typical of a developing country’s capital city. Obligingly, Edwin took these keen folk to the slum where he grew up. He introduced his friends and family to them and showed them the sights of where so many people live and work so hard for so little. The backpackers were moved by the wonderful people they met, who despite poverty and obviously difficult living conditions were so welcoming, and decided to give something back by buying a few local families some food supplies such as bags of rice and noodles. More backpacker’s who arrived  got wind of this trip and showed a keen interest to also be shown the sights; hence ‘True Manila’ was born: a glimpse into the slum-life of Manila through Edwin’s eyes .

Neil and I read this story in a diary lying around in the guesthouse and then immediately engaged in deep conversation with Edwin on our very first evening in the city. It didn’t take us much convincing to join 8 other European backpackers on our own True Manila tour with Edwin as our guide, for no costs.  So the next day we travelled by local Jeepney transport across the city and spent the day walking through the slums and the markets of Edwin’s home area. We ate delicious home cooked local food (Pork Adobe and rice) at his wife’s local food stall, met all his family including his own beautiful daughter and son, and played with the dozen’s of children who swarmed around us. The 10 of us then collectively put money in a pot and went to buy rice, noodles, tinned fish and milk powder for 25 families- cupboard essentials for any family in the slums according to Edwin. We also bought cakes for 50 children. The cakes were handed out to eager children with grubby hands but smiling faces, and the food to families whom Edwin carefully selected as the most in need. It was a moving experience, and a real eye-opener to see how several million people of Manila live in cramped and squalid conditions with no running water, haphazard electricity, no hygienic toilet facilities and with tin roofs over their heads.

As a celebration of this seemingly increasing grassroots movement, we were all presented with a unique friendship bracelet from Edwin. To show our thanks and appreciation in return, and as is the True Manila custom, we all gave a plant and wrote our name and country on the pot and presented this to Edwin; ours is a chili plant (chili-obsessed Neil chose this of course). There is now an enormous collection of plants on the balcony at Friendly’s, symbolising all the people who have been involved with the True Manila movement; there is even a facebook group in dedication to this. So watch this space, Edwin is hoping for even bigger things to come out of this and perhaps it will even make a mention in next year’s edition of the guidebook. We certainly hope so, as this is a genuinely worthwhile and selfless cause, set up by one of the nicest Filipino’s we have met so far, who is trying to make a difference whilst raising awareness to a growing group of people from all over the globe brought together in one cause.