According to 2018 data from The World Bank, approximately 43% of the urban population in The Philippines live in slums. Slums are traditionally described as dense urban settlements, usually characterised by crowded and scantily-built housing units, informal delivery of utilities, and unofficial recognition by local government.

​

Baseco Compound or simply Baseco, is a small town in Manila’s port area. Much of Baseco lies on Engineer’s Island, a manmade island built in the 1960s as the dockyard of the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation (NASSCO). It was quite a sizeable dockyard with an area of 30 hectares. Baseco got its name in 1964 when NASSCO was acquired by the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Company or BASECO.

​

The first families who lived in Baseco were not among the urban poor. They were employed by one of the country’s largest shipbuilders. So what happened to Baseco Compound and how did it become a settlement of Manila’s urban poor?

 

From 15 to 20 families living in Baseco in the 1970s, the population more than quadrupled in the late 1980s when President Corazon Aquino replaced the Marcos dictatorship. Many of the new arrivals on the island were families who were displaced by Marcos’ clearing operations in Manila to give way for the construction of government projects.

​

For many years, Baseco Compound was not recognised as a barangay (smallest political unit in The Philippines). This only happened in the 1980s. For politicians, Baseco was a nuisance that needed to be placated from time to time, especially during elections. For the rest of Manila, it was an eyesore. But it was nevertheless tolerated. Baseco’s residents would become notorious worldwide as merchants of kidneys. A single kidney would sell for P30,000 to P500,000—a fortune for some of Manila’s poorest.

​

It is hard to accurately count the population of Baseco. However it is estimated that Manila's largest slum is home to approximately 50,000 inhabitants. With children making up a sizable population of the slum.

​

The main source of income in Baseco is scavenging for plastics, garlic peeling, and metal and charcoal production. Women work for the entire day peeling garlic cloves outside their homes and packing them for large scale distributors. 8-10 hours of peeling garlic pays AU$2 per 15 kg.

​

During the school holiday between Term 3 and Term 4 this year, Johan (Year 5 student at Barker College) and I will journey to Manila, The Philippines to spend some time volunteering at Baseco. We will be accompanied by my brother (David) who has been to Baseco many times over the past decade on Mission trips and who continues to support the work of the local church.

​