Entries by Purple Romero | Informal City Dialogues
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How to Buy a $17 College Education in Manila’s Forgery District
At a public market in Quiapo, for the price of a couple of drinks, you can purchase a counterfeit driver’s license, marriage certificate, or degree to your first-choice university.
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Disabled Workers Struggle for Options in an Economy that Shuns Them
For people with disabilities, Manila offers a better life than the rural provinces, but the ceiling for how high you can rise remains pretty low.
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Rolling Stores Keep Merchandise on the Move in an Ever-Changing City
Since they days when they were pulled by water buffalo, Manila’s rolling stores have provided affordable goods to the urban poor, and an important job option for the city’s workforce.
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A Theatrical Production Aimed at City Officials Spotlights the Slums
For a quarter century, advocates have staged performances on city streets to call attention to the plight of the urban poor. Recently, their production hit the big time.
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Can a Party for the Urban Poor Rise in the Philippines?
The Sanlakas party has been out of power since 2010, but campaign volunteers like Maritess Nedera are hitting the streets to make sure it makes a comeback in next month’s elections.
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“We Don’t Plant Trees, We Grow Houses”
Reflecting on the dramatic changes in Metro Manila allowed participants in that city’s Futures Scenarios workshop to look forward toward an era of climate change, population shifts and large-scale resettlements.
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Tricycle Drivers Get Paid in Burgers, But Not Much Cash
The three-wheeled vehicles that breeze through Quezon City might be some of the most cost-effective marketers in Manila. Are their drivers being duly compensated?
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Cigarette Vendors Fear New Sin Tax Could Be a Drag on Business
With the highest smoking rates in Southeast Asia, the Filipino government hopes its new sin tax will encourage citizens to quit the habit. Cigarette vendors, not so much.
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A Handshake Industry for Centuries, Domestic Work Gets Formalized
A new law formalizing household work in the Philippines has some domestic workers wondering how government will fit into an industry long built on personal relationships.
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Mixing Science and Faith, Herbal Medicine Markets Offer Cures and Jobs
Sellers of herbal medicines at informal markets find a steady stream of customers even in modern Manila — and swear that their remedies work.
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