Wealth and Income Inequality in Manila

Manila is a city known for its traffic, pollution, poverty and chaos. A disaster, one might say. But as cliche as this might sound, Manila is a beautiful disaster. The city wakes up by 7am to sell on the streets, the bells of the big Catholic churches start to ring, and everyone starts chasing time. Manila is a city of culture.

Someone moving to Manila must know that it is a very busy and crowded place. There are tall buildings everywhere and a lot of public and private transportation. Manila is the most populated place in my country since most of the places are rural. However, even though it’s the busiest place because it’s very commercialized, there are still a lot of homeless people everywhere and it’s dangerous.

Life in any city is hard but residing in the capital of the country makes for a mixture of extreme pollution, expensive commodities, and a visual onslaught of poverty on the streets and corruption of the state. This knowledge, tinged with the third-world provincial hopes of moving to a city to pursue greener pastures, wouldn’t be enough to sway anyone. Be vigilant and be kind to yourself if you get lost in the tides of the crowd. As someone who became comfortable in the easy, countryside life, going back to the city always comes with a surge of anxiety that I’ll stay glued to the pavement, with the sky barely of sight from skyscrapers casting shadows upon me. Don’t let the city erase you. You are more than the figure you earn, the place you were born, or the color of your skin—no matter what those flashing screens tell you.