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00:01Above this highway in Manila, life moves at full speed.
00:06Cars, trucks, noise, heat.
00:09Thousands of people passing every hour.
00:11But underneath it, hidden in the concrete, there's another world.
00:15Inside a tunnel built for flood control,
00:18dozens of families are living shoulder to shoulder.
00:21Not just one or two households, a real community.
00:25It's dark, it's cramped.
00:26And when heavy rain hits, the water can rise fast enough to wipe out.
00:30What little people have.
00:32Today we're going inside to see what daily life looks like down here.
00:36How people survive and what home means when the floor is concrete
00:40and the ceiling is barely above your head.
00:43And sometimes the risks are very real.
00:50This structure wasn't built for people.
00:52It was designed to redirect flood water.
00:55During heavy storms.
00:57Over time though, families began settling here.
01:00Slowly dividing the space.
01:02Into small living sections.
01:05A few meters in, you start seeing how that division works.
01:09Thin plywood sheets.
01:11Fabric curtains.
01:12Bits of metal and plastic.
01:15Simple materials creating makeshift rooms along both sides of the tunnel.
01:20Each section is just large enough for a mattress, maybe a small shelf.
01:25Sometimes a television mounted against the wall.
01:28Electric wires run across the ceiling, connecting one space to another.
01:32The deeper you walk, the more homes appear.
01:35It isn't hidden in a corner.
01:37It stretches along.
01:39The entire passage.
01:40Dozens of families live here, stacked side by side under the highway above.
01:46Some are cooking outside and carrying food back in.
01:50Others sit close to fans, trying to manage.
01:53The heat that builds up inside the concrete.
01:56Children move through the narrow walkway like it's normal.
02:00Laundry hangs along the walls.
02:02Buckets of water sit outside doorways.
02:04You begin to understand that this isn't temporary shelter.
02:09For a few nights.
02:10For many of the people here, this has been home for years.
02:13And just above this ceiling, traffic moves non-stop.
02:17Completely unaware of the community living.
02:20Directly underneath.
02:21As you move deeper, you start meeting the people who actually live here.
02:27Not as a headline.
02:28Just as families trying to get through the day.
02:31We stop at one of the first homes near the entrance and speak with a mother inside.
02:36For her, this tunnel isn't a strange place anymore.
02:40It's just where life happens.
02:42We ask the simple questions first.
02:45What's your name at this class?
02:47People are here.
02:47You are here.
02:48You are here.
02:49You are here.
02:51How can you tell your friends?
02:55Well, why do you do so?
02:55No.
02:56In case you are getting away from your relationship?
03:00No.
03:06I don't know.
03:08Pat, how do you have people to get out there?
03:09How do you do?
03:12No.
03:13There are old people's stories in the house.
03:18And then the bigger question is, why would anyone choose to live inside a tunnel like this?
03:44Why would anyone choose to live inside a tunnel like this?
03:48It's difficult for us to live inside a tunnel.
03:52For example, when I was thinking,
03:56when I was thinking, when I was living inside a tunnel,
03:59we were able to live inside a tunnel.
04:03It's impossible for us to live inside a tunnel.
04:06It's impossible for us to live inside a tunnel.
04:08It's impossible for us to live inside a tunnel and all these days are there.
04:18You know what?
04:21I bet you know what you mean by the way we can change the tunnel.
04:24What are the plans of this tunnel?
04:28My plan is to live inside a tunnel.
04:34I was sure that I was like that.
04:37For example, when I finished my two children,
04:43I was in my home,
04:45I was in my home,
04:46I was in my home,
04:46I was in my home.
04:48I couldn't get rid of it.
04:55I was in my home,
04:58I was in my home.
04:59I couldn't get rid of it.
05:01I couldn't get rid of it.
05:02I couldn't get rid of it.
05:06I couldn't get rid of it.
05:08I couldn't get rid of it.
05:09I couldn't get rid of it.
05:15For some, it starts as temporary.
05:18A few weeks,
05:19a few months,
05:20but time passes, kids grow up,
05:23and suddenly it becomes years.
05:25Living here means building systems
05:27out of almost nothing.
05:29That's the house.
05:31That's the house where there's no one.
05:36There's no one.
05:38There's no one.
05:40There's no one.
05:42There's no one.
05:44Okay, okay.
05:45There's no one here.
05:46No.
05:47There's no one.
05:49There's no one.
05:50Where did you go?
05:52That's where you're at, Mama.
05:53There's no one.
05:53No one.
05:55Super,
05:56it's that supercaran po siya.
05:58No, I know.
05:59Why do you go a,
05:59ilang months?
06:00No.
06:01Three months.
06:02Three months.
06:03But you're already on the street?
06:05Yes.
06:06You're already on the street.
06:07Yeah, you're already on the street.
06:08where did you go?
06:08The other ones?
06:12Yeah.
06:18When heavy rain comes, everything gets wet.
06:21Wires hang low in certain areas.
06:24People adapt because they have to.
06:27It's not comfortable. It's not secure.
06:30But for the families here, it's structured enough to function.
06:46How do you stay?
06:49Where do you stay?
06:50Where do you stay?
06:54Where do you stay?
06:59Where do you stay?
07:01Where do you stay?
07:01How long do you stay?
07:02How long do you stay?
07:02One day only.
07:03What was the situation you had to do when you came back?
07:08It's probably the rest of your life.
07:10Because there's no time when you are in the distance.
07:15When I was in the distance,
07:16we couldn't stay at the distance.
07:18We couldn't go back right now to the distance.
07:22At the distance, we couldn't go back.
07:30We couldn't go back.
07:30We couldn't go back and we couldn't go back.
07:31We couldn't go back.
07:35That's the most common problem I was able to solve.
07:44privacy is minimal cleanliness depends entirely on cooperation despite the
07:50conditions daily routines still form kids wake up some go to school adults
07:56leave to find work from the outside
08:26it looks unstable but inside there's a rhythm
09:23life here is tough on
09:26certain and often invisible to the world above every day is a struggle finding food staying
09:32safe and protecting the little they have the conditions are harsh and the challenges never
09:38seem to end yet this is the reality many families wake up to every single day but even in these
09:46difficult conditions hope does not disappear despite the struggles many still hold on to
09:52dreams of a better future they dream of stability of opportunity and of giving their children a life
09:58that is safer and full of possibilities far from the tunnels they call home today
10:32anong ang pangarap mo? flight F8
10:49when asked about the future many speak about hopes that may seem simple to some but mean everything to them
10:56a stable job that can provide daily food a safe place to sleep without fear of rain or flooding
11:02and most of all the chance for their children to receive an education and build a life beyond these tunnels
11:09for parents here the dream is not luxury or wealth it is stability it is the hope that one day
11:17their children will have opportunities they themselves never had yet for many of the children growing up here
11:23this place is the only world they have ever known some of them say that even if they had the
11:29choice they would stay their friends are here their families are here this tunnel despite the hardship feels like home
11:38you are here this tunnel you are reaching out here you are one of the windows for being home
11:50you are one of the people who are here today
11:55you are one of the people who do not provide you with your friends the day
12:02but what do you do not relax here or do you want to live here and live here?
12:08If you stay here, you'll be able to stay here.
12:10If you stay here, you'll be able to stay here.
12:14The tunnel is more than just a home for them.
12:17It is a growing community.
12:19What began as a small group of families has now expanded,
12:22with more than 20 families calling this place home.
12:26Each family brings its own stories, struggles and small victories,
12:30creating a network of support where neighbors look out for one another.
12:35In a place where life is uncertain,
12:36this sense of community becomes a lifeline.
12:40People share what little they have,
12:43watch over each other's children
12:44and help protect each other from the risks that come with living here.
12:49In many ways, these families have built their own neighborhood,
12:52strong, resilient and connected beneath the streets of the city.
12:57Families here face judgment and misconceptions from the world above.
13:02People often assume that because they live below,
13:04they must be thieves or drug users.
13:07But the reality is very different.
13:10These are decent families, working hard every day just to get by.
13:20They are not very different from the people and not at all.
13:27They thought for me as a kid.
13:31There are many people who are sick and addicts.
13:38We are not our families, but we are not here.
13:46Did you tell us that you didn't have anything to do with it?
13:53Yes.
14:13Life under the tunnels is hard, unpredictable, and often unseen.
14:18Yet in this hidden world, families survive, children play, and communities grow up.
14:24They grow stronger with every challenge they face.
14:27Every flood, every struggle, every judgement from above is met with courage.
14:32Here people build homes with their hands, create friendships that last a lifetime, and nurture
14:38dreams that reach far beyond these walls.
14:41Their lives remind us that dignity, hope, and perseverance are not measured by where
14:46you live, but by the strength you carry inside.
14:49And in the end, even beneath the city, the human spirit continues to shine.
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