I Found A Tunnel Where 100 Families Live (Philippines)

I'm standing on Manila's busiest highway.

And right under my feet is a tunnel community where over 100 families are living.

Down there, it's hot, cramped, and dark.

But parents are raising kids with no sanitation and life-threatening floods that happen many times a year.

We're going to go inside the tunnel and experience what it's like to live there.

Here we go! All right.

We are now roaming through the tunnel. Hello!

Hello.

I'm okay.

Hi!

What's up, man?

This is my house.

Literally, this is the street.

Like, this is concrete.

This is the highway, yeah.

One-month-old baby, all alone, completely by himself in the room, just chilling.

So, this is the tunnel community.

More or less 100 families here.

Families or people?

Families.

Hundred families! So, that's like 300 people at least.

Probably.

But there's also another side, because in the middle is the...

river, the dirty river.

So, on the other side, there's also family there.

Hello. How are you?

What's up, buddy? Hi!

How are you?

So, here. This one is even, even lower.

It's so low! I'm fully bent down.

Hello, how are you?

Ella.

Ella.

How many kids do you have?

Two.

Two kids?

Very beautiful. How long are you living here?

Since birth.

Since birth.

Can you tell me, what is it like to live here?

Like the struggles and just like the daily life living in this tunnel.

How do you get water?

So, water is free?

Yes.

Your baby sleeps here but where do you sleep?

Oh, you sleep right there under it.

Do you have a husband? Does he have a job?

No.

No job.

How can you make money to support your kids?

Thank you, Ate.

I just tried to get up and I'm limited here with my back.

All right, let's go.

Oh, man! This is the craziest one, bro.

It is, man.

This entire roof here is like... 2ft tall.

Yeah. When it rains...

really heavy rains, the water can go up to this level.

So, you have to evacuate right away.

As Manila's population continues to explode, the poorest families are being pushed into spaces never meant for living.

Under the freeway in San Andres Bukid, tunnels designed for flood control have become a last refuge for people arriving from the provinces with nowhere else to go.

Life below comes with the constant risk of eviction, proving that Manila's uncertain political landscape is starting to leave entire communities behind. Hi, Tita.

How are you?

I'm fine.

What's your name?

Teresita Lindo.

Teresita Lindo.

Nice to meet you.

You got bit by a dog?

I just told her to go to the...

hospital soon because she needs to have the...

anti-rabies shot.

How often does it happen that people get bit by dogs?

Very often.

I got bitten here by a cat...

before because I stepped into it because it was too dark before so, still alive!

Really?

Inside this, uh, the tunnel, you can see this is the size of the house.

This whole family lives here?

Okay.

So, this is the, the most relaxed position you can sit.

If you have a...

table, that's also your chair.

So, so you just can't stand up, right?

Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

That's it.

And this is...

up to just here.

That's it.

This is like the kitchen or what is this room?

Now, they turned this into a kitchen because now they are also renting that other side.

See?

They're renting it out?

So this is one space and this is one space?

Yeah. Yeah.

You can see the bed on the wall there.

There's a picture of Jesus Christ on the wall.

More clothes.

There's a light. You can't really hear the cars.

Yeah, you can't. It's freaking thick, man!

Like, I don't know, probably...

like this thick, like this.

You know what's crazy?

I've been coming to Manila for the last 12 years, and I've been on this skyway so many times.

You never realize that there's a community living below it.

When you're driving on it, you have no idea there's people live here.

No idea, yeah, yeah.

Why do you think they live under the tunnel?

Renting is too expensive.

So, sometimes you live here, uh, temporarily and then...

when you found a job, and then maybe you earn something much better, then you try to move out.

But because you live here already, you take advantage of where you live.

What they do is just, they put a wall, they put their wires, and then they just rent it. 500, 1,000, or 750, something like that.

Yeah.

Once you live here, there's no restrictions, there's no boundary.

Even the cockroach or rats, they go inside your house.

This is where they hang their clothes right here.

Yeah, they even have a washing machine.

Oh, they have a washing machine! How do they get power?

There, look at that.

So there, oh my God, there's a power strip!

Look at that. Look back here.

That's incredible, they have power.

Yeah, and when it rains, everything is wet.

And when there's a heavy rain and it's flooded, everything is like destroyed by the water.

How many times does that happen in a year?

Let's say in 10 years, it happened like three times in 10 years.

Like Ondoy, uh, Yolanda...

uh, like those three...

Imagine if like a typhoon comes and your house is completely gone.

three big typhoons and uh.

Typhoon. Then you start over.

At the end of the tunnel, there's a little shop here where these guys are selling stuff.

They have electricity, which is interesting because in many, like, remote islands in the Philippines, they don't have electricity, but here they do.

We just came here so I can stand up straight for a second because it is, it's tough, man. So, it's raining pretty hard outside and you can see all this water that's just coming straight down is from the rain.

Watch out for this wire because it's a live wire.

You can get electrocuted if.

You can get electrocuted. All right.

This is, these are all the live wires.

Okay, so be careful.

Try not to get electrocuted.

Electric to it.

Jeez. Have you been electrocuted?

Someone, a, a, a, a pregnant woman got electrocuted before. Watch your step.

Yeah, watch. It's pretty, like, puddly over here.

We are going deeper and deeper in the tunnel, and the smell is unbearable.

There's trash everywhere.

It's like sewage water.

It's getting narrower and tighter and super, super humid and sticky.

And everywhere you look, there's just another family that's just like living in here.

It's like, one of the most absurd living situations I've ever seen in my life.

We're going deeper, here we go.

Thing is, when one person smokes cigarettes, everybody can smell it.

I'm really trying to dodge these wires with everything.

Hi!

Hi. How are you?

Can I look inside your house? Hello.

Okay.

Okay.

This one is, uh, lifted.

Shoes off?

Yes. It's okay.

No, I will take them off.

It's okay.

No! Shoes are, shoes are dirty.

That's okay. It's okay, take them off.

Hi.

Hi. It's very small.

How you doing today?

Nothing.

Nothing.

Just relaxing?

Yes.

Yes.

What's your name?

Precious.

Precious.

But they call me here Jang.

What are you watching on TV?

No signal.

No signal!

You're very good at Tagalog, huh?

My wife is Filipina.

Here's the TV.

Yeah.

Yeah.

My fan.

That's the AC.

Yeah.

Another fan?

Yes.

It's broken, it's a small. Yeah.

This one is my favorite.

Oh!!! You smoking cigarettes in here?

Yes. Sorry.

It's okay.

Is it, every, when you smoke a cigarette, everybody can smell?

No. Oh, oh yes.

Because.

So how, how long have you lived here?

Five.

Five years.

And why did you come here, uh, five years ago?

Uh, my husband lives here.

My family lives here.

So was it difficult to move here in the tunnel?

No.

What's the biggest difficult thing about living here?

Uh, when it's a rainy day. Rainy season.

Evacuate! Evacuate!

Evacuate!

Evacuate. So what, what happens when you evacuate?

DSWD -come here and then said.

To evacuate to another place.

When the rain came did the entire house?

Really?

Yes.

So what happened? What happened to the TV?

Yes.

Upstairs.

Upstairs.

You bring it with you? You took everything?

Yes.

You take it.

This is my mom.

Me mother, my daughter, my son, my granddaughter.

So, you live four people?

And then my baby.

She's pregnant.

Yeah.

How old are you?

Eighteen.

You're 18? So, you're about to have a new sibling?

Yes.

Wow. And how.

Wow. Cannot believe it?

How, how many people live in here? Five?

Five.

Yeah, five.

Where is the, you have a husband?

Husband.

Your husband? Okay.

My husband and her husband.

They live here too. And where do you sleep?

Me and my husband here and her and her husband.

So, do you work? Do you have a job?

No, my husband.

What is his job?

Cleaning cars.

On the stop light?

Car wash. Yes.

Car wash. How many pesos does he earn in one month?

Per day.

Per day. How much?

Five Hundred.

And how much does it cost to live here?

Like for electricity, for housing?

Electricity here, pay a month.

1,000 a month, like that.

Water...

Give free.

Free water?

Six hundred.

Six hundred pesos rent.

Six hundred pesos per month? Yes.

Per month.

How often do you leave the tunnel and go on the streets?

Every day?

Well, thanks for letting me in your house, Precious.

You're very kind.

Thank you.

And your mother. Look at this.

This is like right outside the tunnel.

Look at this thick trash underneath. It's so...

sad in there from the outside, but when you actually talk to the people, they're resilient.

They, they're always looking at the positives.

They are still positive.

The way they think is still positive.

It's freaking hot there, man! Like.

Dude, it's so hot, bro! Like.

Very hot.

Dude.

So, look, you can see it's another house, they have more space here. You can see the rain outside.

Yeah. Yes.

They have a window imagine that there's a window.

There, they don't see anything you know, the air is like...

It's really, uh, trapped, you know.

It's crazy to be shooting this story during a rainstorm.

If it's not claustrophobic enough, it even becomes more.

Because the humidity and the moisture and the smell and then the...

rain dripping from every crevice. Like, shit, man.

We just walked out of the tunnel community.

We're immediately on the freeway.

And this is a polluted river that they live alongside right here.

We started on the other side of the freeway, right over there where the blue tents are, and we ended up here.

So, all of that walking and all the people living, they're literally in this exact line.

And see all of the trucks, but you don't hear anything below.

Yeah.

It's like freaking...

thick like that.

What's crazy is that guy has no idea that his truck is positioned directly over all of the homes, two feet below.

That tire is Precious's home.

That's absolutely mind blowing.

How does this tunnel make you feel when you walk in there?

Oh, man, I don't know.

I don't know how to describe anymore.

I've been here like for many years. And the most difficult part is, uh, when you see the same kids.

And now, they have family, they're grown up, and still the situation is the same.

I, myself, when I was a teenager, I live in the same...

tunnel, but not here.

There's another side.

Really?

And they removed everything there because it's part of Makati.

So, now it's December. So, if this rain don't stop for two days like this, so, this level of water here in the tunnel will go up.

And then when you come back, you cannot see the people anymore.

They will evacuate right away.

Most of the time when they evacuate, they just stay there and they wait until the water is...

out and then they come back.

Hey, guys.

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My friend Paola.

Hi, Paola.

How are you?

Hi.

Her baby.

It's a newborn?

Yes.

How old is the baby?

One month.

One month? And how many people live in this house?

Two people. Just you and her.

And what happened to your parents? Two.

They died.

Mom and Dad died.

I'm so sorry.

It's okay.

Who helps you with the baby?

Mother-in-law.

Mother-in-law?

Her mother-in-law.

What do you call this like this community?

Like a tunnel or what do you. How do you?

Under the bridge. Like that.

Under the bridge.

How many people live down here?

Here, like...

50 houses. 50 rooms.

Fifty rooms. And every room has how many people?

Like that. Five, four.

Like that.

Every family. Family.

So, 50? So, 50 families with five people so 250 people.

It's a lot of people.

Like that. A lot of people.

A lot of people. Where do you cook?

Outside.

Outside? And then you bring it in?

Yes.

What happened if the electricity goes off, it's...

fully dark?

Yes. You don't see anything.

Completely black.

Yes.

And the fan doesn't work, so it's super hot.

Yeah.

So, what happens you just lay down?

No, we go upstairs.

And then, if the electricity open, we come down.

Do you go to school?

Everyone here speaks English, like perfectly.

You're going to school or you're just learning from.

No, me, I'm not going to school anymore.

I'm learning from, uh, watching series, like that.

It's such a small community here.

Everybody knows each other.

Yes.

Is there any like, drama here? Problems?

Fighting?

A lot! A lot!

You know, here in Philippines, we call.

There's a lot of chismis here.

Then...

family fighting, like husband, wife fighting, like that.

Me and my mother, we always talk loud.

And the other room say, "Maingay ka!", you know, like Tagalog.

During the afternoon, most people here, do they go on the streets to work or do they just stay here?

Only the men.

The women don't work here?

Here.

Only men work. The...

girls here, uh, do housework.

Watch the family?

Yes. My friend.

Hi!

Her house is over there. You want to go?

Uh, sure?

Ah, let's go.

Her house is big.

She has a big house?

Yes. You can stand a little bit.

Yes.

But she have a lot of kids.

Should I take off my shoes?

Yes, here, you can Here.

take off your shoes here.

Yes.

Oh, you can stand a little bit here.

Yes.

It's kind of wedged in the corner and you've got a little space here that you can kind of like stand a little bit more.

Kind of. How many, how many kids do you have?

Six.

So, this, this house is much bigger than all the other ones.

So, does she have to pay more rent?

Yes.

No, this house is her.

What's the most difficult thing about your life here?

If she doesn't have food, her kids don't have food.

Yes.

How many people sleep up there?

Three.

Where do you sleep, Ate?

Do you have internet?

Internet? Wi-Fi.

You have Wi-Fi?

Yes.

Many Wi-Fi.

That's amazing that you have Wi-Fi.

Every house we've been in so far, they all have electricity and have phones and TVs and Wi-Fi.

So, they're all plugged in.

Do you watch YouTube videos?

Yes.

My favorite blogger, Zeinab here in the Philippines.

She is most popular, like that.

Zeinab Harake.

Everybody here is living like on top of each other and you're sharing the same things and touching everything.

So do you have many diseases or health, health problems?

No, we don't have health problems here because we use personal things, No! but we don't share.

I noticed she has a toilet here, but I didn't see other toilets.

How many people have a toilet here?

Only three in her house.

We use here public toilet.

One toilet over there and then toilet in the middle, toilet here.

So, only three toilets in this tunnel?

Public use. Public use, only three.

Yeah. So, do other people living here want to use her toilet?

No, no, not allowed. Only her family.

No, not allowed.

Here's the bathroom situation in the corner.

Only three homes have a private bathroom in this entire tunnel.

Here's one of them right in front of me.

Be careful over there.

Why?

The you know, it's cracked.

If you step, you go there in.

In the river?

Yes.

What are other activities you can do in here?

Gambling.

Gambling? Okay, who's gambling?

Yeah, cards,...

Bingo here in the Philippines.

Everybody has so many kids here.

And then when you have kids, the space becomes smaller and smaller.

Isn't that difficult?

Yes.

I think no, because if a lot of kids, a lot of fun.

The kids here are so, so fun, so kind.

Family is everything in the Philippines.

Even in the toughest conditions, parents stay hopeful, kids stick together, and you will find laughter in places you would never expect.

And most of the time, grandparents are the backbone here, helping raise their grandkids and holding the entire family together.

So, Precious is now taking me just nearby to...

your grandma's house.

Okay. This is her house, and you can come inside.

So, the street is right here?

Yes.

Okay, I will follow you inside. Hello, po!

Hello.

How are you?

How long have you lived here in this community?

When she was a child, she lives here.

How has the community changed over time?

Many years ago, was it the same or was it different?

Can you tell me what is the best and the worst things about living here?

How many kids do you have?

Is it stressful to hear these cars all day long?

Can I ask you, what is your age?

Eighty-three.

Eighty-three. Wow!

Amazing. I hope that I can live until 83.

Eighty-three nothing here, eighty-three.

She's the oldest one?

Yes, she's the oldest one.

The queen of the community.

Senior!

It's so incredibly loud here.

Even at night, there's cars.

Yes. Always.

Do you have any hobbies?

Lola, when you were younger, did you work?

Did you have a job? She washed clothes.

So how much money did you make in one day?

Five hundred.

How much money do you need to make every day to live an okay life here?

With food, paying all the bills?

My husband gives me money every day 500.

Five hundred pesos?

Yes. We buy food,...

we cook rice.

How many grandkids? She's one.

Yes.

Grandkid?

Yes.

Hello! Do you have many friends here?

They're living around here?

Do all of the kids here go to school?

Yes.

All of them?

That's good. Tell her that she's doing amazing.

She's smiling because you said to her she's cute.

She's very, very beautiful.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

It's for you too.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

She's crying.

Thank you. Thank you.

Precious and I are going to the markets.

We're going to get a bunch of rice and supplies and food to bring to her and her family.

And they can have whatever they need.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

They get it.

They get it in the river.

Really?

Yes.

How long did it take you to get all of that?

And you got it in this river here?

Wow, that's a lot of pesos!

Good job.

Pesos and cents.

Oh, fresh air! Nice.

This is the river the kids were jumping in to get the coins.

It's not clean.

Yeah. Yes, that's not clean.

Do you live here?

Yeah, in Manila felcris.

Do you know about this community in this tunnel?

You don't know about it?

There's, like, 250 people living right here by the river.

250 people. She's one of them.

Two hundred fifty?! What?

Yeah.

Right here. Under, underneath.

And it goes, it goes under the freeway.

Under. Under.

Hey bro, take it easy.

Dude, it's crazy like, the traffic here, the jeepneys there's people in every single corner of this place.

So, every day you come out on the streets here?

Yes.

Just to get a break from the, from the tunnel?

Here.

Is it safe to walk here alone for for her, for her?

Yes, it's safe. Yes.

Where I come from, 12-year-olds are not allowed to walk the streets at night by themselves or anytime because it's dangerous.

We have found the rice shop here.

So, you tell me what you like anything, for Lola also, there's so many kinds of rice.

How do you know which one is the best?

This, Jasmine.

That's the classic rice.

Yes.

What's your favorite rice?

Jasmine.

Jasmine also?

Yes.

We're going to try some longan, my favorite fruit.

You've never tried it before?

No.

Take it. I will show you how to eat it.

You need to crack it with two fingers.

You should see how it opens. Like that?

This.

Okay. Yeah, like that.

Here, you take this one.

You take this one.

There's a black seed in the middle.

You don't want to eat the, don't swallow the black seed.

Okay, so eat it.

Sweet!

Spit out the seed. You don't like it?

Got a bunch of rice and fruit and supplies, and we are heading back to the tunnel. Hello.

Hi.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Welcome. It's heavy.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas!

Hi! Welcome to our place!

That's my friend.

She talks a lot.

Merry Christmas.

I have a gift for you. All of you.

Hi...

Come inside!

There are many people there who will make you happy.

Watch your head. Walking in the tunnel in the evening, it's way busier.

Way more foot traffic, more voices, more giggles.

And we are now back inside of Precious's home with food.

Hello.

Hello.

Hi!

Where's your daughter?

Here. This is my daughter.

Oh, we have a whole family here. Hello!

Hello.

Hi...

This is so cozy. We're just chilling.

What's your daughter's name?

Francesca.

Francesca. Where's her father?

Um, working.

Hello. -- How are you?

You just woke up? He just wake up.

Yes.

Experiencing life inside the tunnel really makes me want to help out the families who are struggling. So, the next day, my wife Deanna and I meet back up with Edwin to do something special for the community.

These are all toys for kids, and then we also have a little grocery package for the parents.

Many of you, guys, don't know this, but I have opened up Binsky Philanthropy to start donating and giving back to the people in the communities that I'm visiting around the world.

So, we have just purchased $1,000 worth of gifts and food that we're going to give to the people in the tunnel.

This one came out of my personal donation.

But in the future, for certain videos, we're going to be opening up for you, guys, to contribute anything you want.

And I can promise you that the people here greatly appreciate it.

How do you feel with all the gifts here?

I'm happy! Very happy.

Really.

Hi!

How are you? Hi!

Okay.

Yow, what's up man.

How are you?

When they come outside, there's so many people in the tunnel.

They all live in the tunnel.

I think this is only like 70%, because there's another side of the tunnel.

Thank you, Kuya Drew!

Thank you, Kuya Drew! Thank you, Kuya Drew!

Thank you, Kuya Drew!

Thank you, Kuya Drew!

Thank you, Ate Deanna!

Thank you, Ate Deanna!

Thank you, Ate Deanna!

Thank you, Ate Deanna!

Thank you, Ate Deanna!

Hi, Drew! Thank you!

Merry Christmas!

So, what does it mean to you to give the gifts?

It means a lot to them because it's not all the time that they get gifts.

And it just feels so good like today.

We're gonna go show Deanna Precious's home.

Seven hundred pesos per month.

So, she's from Malate.

And the reason why they moved here is because...

when they got pregnant, they moved here.

She got pregnant at 15, or 14.

14. Yes.

Fourteen she got pregnant.

Then, um, their house in Malate is way better.

But the people, living there are not nice compared to the people living here.

Oh, tell me more about the people here.

If those billions of dollars was donated to them, like for a housing, for a better housing with.

Then they would have a better life and it would be easier for the kids to, um, to go to school, to live.

After everything Precious has been through, I'm honestly speechless.

And I'm grateful that she's trusted me enough to share her story.

As for the other families watching, how they protect their kids, build routines, and hold onto their dignity inside these tunnels has completely reshaped the way I see the country that I'm lucky enough to call one of my homes.

I visited a lot of impoverished communities and people living in the world's smallest homes, but this place is just different.

It's way more extreme, even wilder than the coffin homes of Hong Kong.

But what you come to realize is that Filipino people are amazing.

They're kindhearted, and even if they have nothing, they're still so genuine and happy and they're smiling and making the best of it.

And that's why I love this country so much.

Thank you for watching this video.

It means the world to me.

And I will see you guys in the next one. Peace!