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CNN World Report
Site of Tragedy in the Philippines Revisited
Aired July 08, 2001 - 14:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: The Philippines government is still struggling to sort through a major trash problem. For years, Manila has faced a growing garbage crisis, as residents and politicians have blocked the constructions of new land fills. Authorities unsuccessfully tried to ship trash to a remote island when a mountain of garbage collapsed at a dump site killing hundreds of people. Philippines' GMA Network looks at the situation at the dump site one year after the tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CESAR APOLINARIO, GMA NETWORK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little has changed since the Payatas tragedy took place last year. Payatas is still a scene of slum dwellers making a living by scavenging in Manila's biggest garbage dumps.
On July 10 2000, a mountain of garbage came crashing down in the community of Payatas, killing 300 people and rendering thousands homeless. Helen was one of those quickly affected by the tragedy. To make a living, she had to leave the evacuation center and return to the Payatas dump. Though eight months pregnant, she returned to a life of sifting through garbage to look for items she can sell to junk dealers.
HELEN PAYATAS, RESIDENT (through translator): Yes, these are expensive for us scavengers.
APOLINARIO (on camera): Can you sell that? How much do you earn?
PAYATAS (through translator): These things are cheap, one cent per kilo.
APOLINARIO: In one day, how much do you earn?
PAYATAS (through translator): A day -- a maximum of $1.
APOLINARIO (voice-over): Earning just a little over $1 a day, Helen tries to make both ends meet with her four children. One of them, an 8-year-old girl is already a scavenger. Every day, Helen and her daughter leave at the crack of dawn to make their way up a huge mountain of trash. They not only have to stand the stench, they also eat the leftovers they find among the garbage.
PAYATAS (through translator): We eat a lot of food here, like orange.
APOLINARIO (on camera): So you get food from here, fruits and vegetables as well?
PAYATAS (through translator): Yes.
APOLINARIO: Do you eat those?
PAYATAS (through translator): Yes, we wash them first and then we eat them.
APOLINARIO (voice-over): Despite the hellish surroundings, Helen considers Payatas her haven. She and other scavengers call it their promised land.
Last March, the last of the victims who died were finally laid to rest after eight months. The bodies were loaded onto a garbage truck, chopped to pieces to make them fit into the limited caskets, then buried in a mass grave. They were never identified.
CLARITA GACUDO (through translator): Dr. Meyer (ph) said they find it hard to identify the bodies. I can't accept that the corpses were cut to pieces.
APOLINARIO (on camera): Residents of Payatas have sued the city government for the tragedy that befell their community. They realize that it's a long struggle, as the wheels of justice turn slowly for the disadvantaged in Philippine society. For the mean time, they remain at the dump site, knowing well risk of injury and even death of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
They cling to some hope and promise that the government will provide them with opportunities for better life in the future.
ROSE ROQUE, ACTIVIST (through translator): Call it a victory. Some of the victims were given decent burials. But again, we will still pursue the case we filed against those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.
APOLINARIO (voice-over): From GMA News and Public Affairs, Manila, this is Cesar Apolinario for the CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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