Housing shortage in the Philippines: life between the dead

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Almost 13 million people live in the metropolitan region of Manila, on an area smaller than Hamburg. Not only is it tight and full, the housing shortage in the capital of the Philippines is huge, especially among the poorer part of the population. According to aid organizations, about three million people are homeless in Manila, more than any other city in the world.

The emergency has created a bizarre little settlement: About 6000 people live on the "Manila North Cemetery", a cemetery - in mausoleums, on tombs, between bones.

The photographer Claudio Sieber spent a week on the "Norte", as the locals call the cemetery. Since the 1950s, the "Norte" not only houses the dead, but also the living. The emergency solution has become a permanent state for many, some were born in the cemetery and there have become parents and grandparents.

Over the years, the residents have built their own infrastructure. There are kiosks, many have TVs in "their" mausoleums, some even air conditioning.

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"At first it felt like a normal neighborhood, if not all the gravestones," says Sieber. Compared to the numerous slums of the city it is on the "Norte" almost comfortable and probably safer. Nevertheless, most people dream of earning enough money to leave the cemetery.

The biggest threat to the settlement comes from the government. Again and again there are rumors that the cemetery should be cleared. Even the brutal "war on drugs" by President Rodrigo Duterte does not stop at the "Norte". According to "Guardian" several residents were killed in raids by the police.

This article is part of the project Global Society, for which our reporters report from four continents. The project is long-term and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Under the title Global Society, reporters from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will be reporting on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development. The reportages, analyzes, photo galleries, videos and podcasts appear in the Politics Department of SPIEGEL. The project is long-term and will be supported over three years by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

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SPIEGEL ONLINE has already implemented two projects in recent years with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After tomorrow" on Global Sustainability Goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals" Several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and escape have emerged.

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