Loyola Heights is home to most of Quezon City's elite. With pristine subdivisions like the White Plains and Blue Ridge, one can almost instantly tell, that in this small district may lie not only the city's wealthiest, but also the country's.
This is why it might be difficult to imagine the grand sidewalks of Katipunan Avenue filling up with beggars.
But come midnight, the beautiful Katipunan transforms to exactly that. The Cinderella town takes her glass slippers off to reveal a reality as dark as the night itself. While the wealthy sleep, the city's poorest awake to find scraps from their garbage, to sell to junk shops, and to eat.
Take for example Rosalinda ''Rosalie" Galvez. She is 42-years old and is single-handedly raising her four children. Her husband died of kidney failure bringing with him the small fortune that they had, enough to raise their four children. Now she is left with nothing but a cart full of garbage and hands full of grub.
She has tried everything from being a lady guard for a condominium to cleaning cafeterias and halls as a janitress. But old age has gotten the worst of her situation forcing her to quit because of the age limit of her contract.
"Before, I used to work in a condominium in Cubao. But when I got laid off, I requested the guard there instead if I could collect my garbage there every night," she said in Filipino.
And so, every night since then, Aling Rosalie follows a regular route from Cubao to Katipunan collecting empty bottles, plastic cups and scratch papers old newspapers from the garbage.
"It just hurts when sometimes, we are treated like worthless beings," she cried as she recalled an instance of being almost hit by a car while collecting garbage.
On one occasion, Aling Rosalie was even maliciously offered by a Pastor of one church to become a prostitute instead. It was times like those that Aling Rosalie felt almost ready to give up, if not for her 18-year old daughter who currently depends on her for her tuition fees in college.
It is quite similar for Aling Dolores, 52, who has been a garbage collector for two years now. She used to sell in her small 'tindahan' back in Tandang Sora. But ever since their house was demolished about a year ago, to give way for the extension of the C-5 road, she has been collecting garbage to sell to junk shops.
"This job is really difficult, but I have no choice. This is the only sure way I know I can get money for my family everyday," she said. Aling Dolores is also currently raising four children, all of whom go to school.
For these people, attaining the most basic needs of life is a constant struggle. While most of Katipunan fight to bring tricycles back to the roads so that they may not have to walk the long distance of the overpass, others walk even longer distances to fight for dear life.
No comments:
Post a Comment