In a striking and surreal scene reminiscent of a horror film, a young woman was spotted crawling out of a storm drain in Makati, the heart of Manila’s financial district, around 5 PM on May 26. The moment, captured in viral photos, has drawn widespread attention across social media in the Philippines.
Eyewitness photos show the woman, dressed in a dirty top and denim shorts, pulling herself out of a wide storm drain at a busy street corner. Her long, unkempt hair was tangled with debris, leaves, and dirt. Upon emerging, she briefly looked toward the man photographing her, smiled, and suddenly sprinted toward him, moments before a man in military-style clothing gave chase.
The photographer, who goes by the Instagram handle @iammrthirty and declined to share his full name, shared the images online, where they were quickly picked up by GMA News and amassed nearly two million views on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. He recounted the scene to online magazine Spot.ph, noting that pedestrians, motorists, and even a traffic officer watched in stunned silence, unsure how to react.
He described the storm drain opening as unusually wide, with enough space beneath to resemble a small room. “The canal’s catch area was surprisingly spacious—larger than some rental rooms in the city,” he said, adding that a pipe large enough for a person to crawl through was visible at the bottom.
When he revisited the site the next day, city officials and private security personnel were repaving the area around the drain. They admitted they were unsure where the underground pipe system led. Authorities also acknowledged that such spaces are sometimes used as makeshift shelters by the homeless, particularly those living near creeks or under bridges.
The woman is believed to be one of the many homeless individuals living in Metro Manila, where over three million people lack stable housing. These individuals often find shelter in cemeteries, roadside tents, improvised carts known locally as kariton, and, as this incident shows, even underground storm drain systems.
According to The Borgen Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on global poverty, the causes of homelessness in the Philippines are complex and include extreme poverty, domestic abuse, human trafficking, and displacement due to natural disasters. Women and children among the homeless are especially vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and neglect.
Reflecting on the event, the photographer, through his Instagram post, remarked that his images are a reminder of the unseen lives coexisting with the gleaming high-rises and fast-paced life of Makati. “These streets hold stories that many of us overlook,” he said. “Behind the city’s polished façade, there are people literally living in the cracks.” — The Straits Times
Image—iammrthirty via Instagram
