The Philippine Poor

Out of sight, out of mind? Filipino slums hidden from view of poverty conference delegates after government puts up a make-shift wall

By Daily Mail Reporter

Delegates attending an international poverty
conference in the Philippines capital may not get to see the city's shanty towns - after a makeshift wall was built to hide them.

The temporary structure has been placed across a bridge on a  road from the airport to downtown Manila that hides a sprawling slum along a garbage-strewn creek. Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang defended the wall's installation by today saying that: 'Any country will do a little fixing up before a guest comes.'

Out of sight: The Filipino government has come under fire for constructing this make-shift wall to hide shanty towns from view during the Asian Development Bank meeting

Anger: A third of Manila's 12million residents live in slum, with a third below the poverty line of $1.25 per day

Backing: Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang defended the wall's installation by today saying that: 'Any country will do a little fixing up before a guest comes'

He has also expressed hope this week's annual meeting of Asian Development Bank Board of Governors, including finance ministers from 67 states, will show the city is open for business.

The lending institution, which is headquartered in its own walled compound in Manila, aims to cut poverty in the Asia-Pacific region.

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'We need to show our visitors that Metro Manila is orderly. We owe it to ourselves,' said metropolitan Manila chief Francis Tolentino.

'I see nothing wrong with beautifying our surroundings. We are not trying to keep the poor out of the picture,' he said. There was no immediate comment from ADB.

Ironic: The lending institution, which is headquartered in its own walled compound in Manila, aims to cut poverty in the Asia-Pacific region

Meeting: South Korean Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan (right) greets Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon 

after their press conference today at the conference

The Philippine Communist Party recalled that former first lady Imelda Marcos — notorious 

for ostentatious lifestyle — was ridiculed for trying to hide squatter colonies.

She constructed similar whitewashed walls along the route of foreign visitors to the Miss Universe pageant held in Manila in 1974, and other international events.

'The government should face reality. If they don’t, how will they know the problem, how will they solve the problem,' said Renato Reyes, secretary general of the largest left-wing group Bayan.

'By covering the truth, they lose the energy or intention to resolve the problem.'

About a third of Manila’s 12 million residents 

live in slums, and a third of 94 million Filipinos live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. Overall, more than half the population in Asia remains poor.