Thrashtalk for a Cause

PAYATAS HAS TAKEN OVER FROM SMOKEY MOUNTAIN AS THE PUBLIC SYMBOL OF POVERTY, with the October 2001 "trashslide" leaving lasting images of urban life gone wrong.

"Without a doubt, places like Payatas symbolizes the more impoverished sectors in our society," says Aldrin Suan, a parish priest and member of the Vincentians Missionaries Social Development foundation, Inc. (VMSDFI). "But we can, at the very least, improve people’s living conditions there."

That, among others, is the basic goal of the VMSDFI for Payatas–and it has been since 1991.

At the heart of Barangay Payatas in the northeastern district of Quezon City lies Metro Manila’s main garbage disposal ground, a 15-hectare open pit which is considered a reincarnation of the former Smokey Mountain in Tondo.

Huddled within and around Payatas are about 4,000 households of scavengers whose source of livelihood is dependent on the tons of waste dumped on the site everyday. Scavenging-related accidents and ailments abound, but the workforce of waste-pickers, without an alternative source of income, continue to engage in the recovery and recycling of waste. Security of land tenure is also a highly pressing issue, making urgent the local government’s pending plan to close the dumpsite and relocate the families.

"Our main priority is to implement the housing program effectively," shares Suan, 34, who, for the last three years, has been living with Payatas residents. "It all starts there... everything else will follow."

The Site Development and Housing Construction Improvement project aims to support civil works, including sewerage and road systems, and a program of individual loans up to P12,000 per household for housing construction and/or housing improvements, with labor contributed by the beneficiaries. They will be relocated to a community adjacent to their present site.

The scheme will also provide special grant assistance to about 100 families from among the victims of the garbage slide tragedy, primarily a grant for the purchase of housing materials. These families will be accommodated through the provision of additional homesites and will be selected and screened by the VMSDFI, based on poverty level and demonstrated need.

"We’re basically for social development kasi. And based on the major concerns of people here, our projects are deftly inter-connected for that purpose," says Suan. "So far, we’ve been able to relocate about 150 families to the adjacent barangay."

It took two years (beginning in 1991) for the VMSDFI to accomplish a thorough social investigation and community integration in Payatas. But since then, the Foundation has initiated all kinds of programs to address the complex problems besetting the residents. Among these programs is an integrated savings and credit program begun in June 1995 to support the providential and welfare needs of the families.

The program quickly drew interest from all sectors in the community–scavenger families, female-headed families, elderly persons, children and youth–such that within two years, an Urban Poor Savings Association (UPSA) was created which soon reached a membership of approximately 5,500, ninety-eight per cent of whom were women.

The success of that early program inspired the foundation to venture into other initiatives to address other issues that included the housing project and health concerns.

One of VMSDFI’s most recent activities was "Bakuna Brigada", which gave free vaccination for Hepatitis B to some 400 youngsters living in the area.

While this may seem like a modest number considering the 3,000 plus who needed the immunization, the minimal cost of P450 per child is already quite an accomplishment (a complete three-shot vaccination in a private clinic usually costs around P1,500 for each child).

"They are living in the congested, health hazardous and over-populated community," says Suan. "And that places them at high risk."

The residents of Payatas are either scavengers or wastepickers who earn from P150 to P250 day, far from enough to meet the most basic daily necessities of food and shelter. In this context, it is not surprising that even basic health care for the family members is neglected, so getting the costly Hepatitis B vaccine is practically out of the question.

The infection, which can cause liver diseases that can lead to cancer, is spread through contact with the blood and body fluids and can also be passed from mother to baby during birth. Naturally, the chances of being chronically infected with the disease is highest among children, with a whopping 90 percent risk for infants and about 50 percent for toddlers. This shows just how important the vaccinations are.

"How we’d love for this to become an annual event. But since the bulk of our budget comes from foreign donations, we simply have to make the most of what we have," says Suan. "That’s why we’re hoping to get more sponsors locally."

Bakuna Brigada, which is part of the service of VMSDFI’s Integrated Management on Childhood Illness to reduce the mortality rate in Payatas B, was administered by the Glaxo Smith Kline Company.

According to Suan, this is an "invitation and encouragement for people to not just share, but to give life to needy Filipino children, as well."

It has now been 12 years and the VMSDFI continues to devote time and effort in a place that many in our society write off as hopeless. Nonetheless, Suan insists that enthusiasm and optimism within the foundation has never dimmed "Tuloy-tuloy ang aming pagmamalasakit," says Suan, even as he gamely admits that it’s still a long way before poverty alleviation and environmental upgrading in Payatas can be felt on a large scale, and an even longer way before people finally stop thinking of the place an urban nightmare.

"But our dedication is truly heartfelt," Suan says. "It has been so from the start. Kaya it doesn’t matter if some people say na we’re facing a losing battle here, because our resolve will never waver."

It is such commitment that undergrids hope for the transformation of Payatas. "There is always the dream to turn Payatas into a safe, habitable environment; to provide access to basic services. But above all, there’s the dream to improve the quality of life."