Manila’s “Most Dangerous Slum” is NOT What You Think 🇵🇭 Philippines

Manila’s “Most Dangerous Slum” is NOT What You Think

In today’s video I visit an area of Tondo, Manila called Happyland. This area has a reputation of being one of the most dangerous areas in Manila, Philippines, so I decided to see what this area of Manila, Philippines was really like. Tondo, Manila was not what I expected.

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Chapters

0:00 – intro
1:52 – Meeting Locals
4:17 – Everyone gets ice cream!
7:08 – Exploring the neighborhood
8:35 – Eating Vegetable Dish
14:50 – Street Pancake
18:40 – Walking through Neighborhood
20:49 – Pagpag Food from Garbage
27:48 – My Thoughts / Summary

here in tondo there’s something called pogp which is made often from thrown out chicken and they get it out of the trash and they clean it off and they heat it up and then sell it again as you see these kids love it they’re pulling me to get ice cream he you want one yeah okay one one one okay you w want okay look how many kids are running over here to get ice cream you guys want these cowbo you should shave your head no no yeah yeah yeah yeah welcome to tondo Manila this area many philipinos have even told me there sorry I’m on the main road here many Filipinos have even told me they’re afraid to go here it has the reputation of being one of the more dangerous areas in the city of Manila thank you thank you that’s exactly what I was about to say I think that everywhere I’ve been in the Philippines I have felt safe and I’ve been welcomed just like that he just said welcome to the Philippines so hopefully in today’s video I can maybe change some opinions about this particular area of the Philippines let’s find one of the entrances over here and maybe get some food I think they’ve got some shops and some places to to eat some street food around here hi and uh maybe we can get some get a little snack over here but we got to find an entrance but as you see many people out here are recycling they’re sorting through the recycling right there and you can collect all of this and and resell it for money so I’m seeing a lot of people sorting through the the garbage to get some of these plastic bottles to recycle and resell I imagine and the ocean here we go and the ocean is not far from here got some some shops right here so we can maybe get a snack hello my G [Music] [Laughter] Maga hello Kam sh bro Shoto bro all right let’s watch bro all right bro oh that’s your hoop oh close so they’re they’re using this as a a basketball hoop okay yeah Ali bro here you go bro try again all right I’ll do one-handed go oh bad job one more one more one more oh that counts that counts okay even if it comes out what what are your names what’s your name Brian my name is Mike Mike Mike Mike nice to meet you my name is nice to meet you I’m John they love basketball in the Philippines they’re going to have hoops anywhere I see this all over the city all over the country they’ll figure out some way to make a hoop if you if they can get a basketball then their their day is made sorry nice to meet you nice to meet you that is yeah that’s a helicopter all right last one last one and then then I got to go last one I like this size of this ball oh oh all right nice to meet you guys nice to meet you have a good day thank you for letting me sh your name John what’s your name bod B nice to meet you and what about [Music] you nice to meet you I’m John oh yes yes he he still wants me to show hold on okay last one oh this close this close is is there some uh like bar maybe bab boy like Street Barbecue sorry yeah yeah is there in there okay okay okay I I’ll go look for some sweet barbecue hey you want you want Street Barbecue you said food food you want food Street Barbecue ice cream that ice cream I was trying to get something a little more nutritious but they’re pulling me to get ice cream ice cream ice cream okay you want one yeah okay one one one okay you want one okay you okay you can get one and you okay everybody this is exactly you’re welcome you’re welcome enjoy thank you you’re welcome you’re welcome thank you yeah thank you for showing me around oh we got we got a few more okay you want one okay yeah you want one all right yeah you want one okay they’re running from they’re they’re spreading the word down the down the road and everyone’s running to get one you’re welcome you’re welcome oh wait we got more okay yeah all right all right we’ve got a few more kids coming look at this they all they’ve gone over and told their friends and they’re literally running around the corner thank you you’re welcome you’re welcome enjoy it’s good good Mas what’s your name John yeah what’s your name thank you you’re welcome thank you’re welcome you’re welcome 357 okay 35 and then we’ve got more oh my goodness look how many kids are running over here to get ice cream okay it’s okay it’s okay watermelon how do you say watermelon in tallar red green tagalo p p one Pon watermelon watermelon pacan pineapple pineapple this one is melon melon melon melon watermelon 600 600 in all okay travel escapes sticker br oh sticker I I don’t have a sticker I don’t have a sticker maybe maybe I have a card I’ll show you I’ll show you the name okay so 600 than you you’re welcome thank you I’m John where did you came from I came Bondo today in Australia oh no no no United States America nice to meet you nice to meet you what’s your name uh Karine Karine nice to meet you Karine yeah thank you yeah thank you very much your first time here be no I live here oh yeah thank you have a good day everybody bye bye shoot okay I’ll shoot one more bye bye shoot one more okay I’ll shoot one more word has gotten out that I’m the ice cream man Kobe a all right have a good day bye water you want water yeah all right I’ll give you some water hello hello Kam everyone these are all your children how many mini min mini how how many do you have I know I have sixs children you have six yes wow who which who who are your children this one they look very sweet these are yours that’s your mom all right well nice to meet you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you have a nice day you’re welcome enjoy enjoy have a good one goodbye hey how are you how’s the popsicle is that pineapple thank you my friend you’re welcome you’re welcome oh you got a watermelon one awesome it’s uh in in uh how do you say my today yeah so this is very good Min how do you say very hot Min we got some fish vegetable that one’s vegetable yeah uh mcell 30 PES 30 pesos could I have one vegetable please how do you say please inala like please how do you say please in tagala B oh bisaya oh poog I speak bah do you speak bayah no oh okay I speak a little bah not not much not much you speak Messiah talog yes thank you very much I can sit okay Mesa thank you you like H pancakes panc pancakes um maybe maybe I was going to eat this one first okay and then I’ll come check it out I don’t know you you guys have to translate I don’t know what everybody’s saying no I don’t speak much B no no no just English just English how are how are you guys this is there’s a an audience here yeah what’s your travel escap out chicken uh chicken intestines chicken intestines yeah it’s Mas up Mas up right right right I oh I eat all the time yeah oh first first I’ll eat the vegetables yeah yeah but this looks really good check it out so we’ve got some stir fried vegetables and some a bit of a stew with a sauce here looks really good but she says vegetables is this tofu yeah all right cool we’ll get some tofu yeah with you subscribed okay is that YouTube or Facebook it’s YouTube okay I have both Facebook also follow follow follow and follow follow on Facebook okay I still haven’t even eaten the food yet I clicked follow is that okay that’s it right there your all right all right let’s give this a shot right here I still haven’t even eaten a bite cheers can you I don’t speak much s though mm Mas Mas so this is cuch right cuch Mesa Mesa and how do you say tiny door tiny door yeah that’s like Spanish tiny door oh my god look how many kids are around are you not in school you you came from school you have a uniform yeah yeah you went to school okay you were playing basketball yes basketball basketball is more more important than School i’ I’ve got like an audience here this is sorry mango mango mang mango that’s carots oh that’s carrots okay okay yeah that’s not mango what what’s the the vegetable okay okay all right so I don’t know all these kids just want ice cream they don’t they didn’t want real food keep by no no no no what does that mean everybody’s laughing when she said that what does that mean what is what is keep ey you don’t know at you like this masab masab yeah this is really good this is awesome honestly like this is really good it’s tons of flavor cabbage cabbage okay that’s cabbage tofu and carrots are you guys hungry you’re not hungry no they you’re just watching mas no no one’s hungry you don’t want any of this food no just just want to watch yeah they’re just watching what’s that oh no no no thank you I I can’t sorry thank you though thank you do you guys want to say hello hi do you do you know school today it’s Wednesday right no i’ been I haven’t been able to eat cuz I’ve been talking the whole time this is the rock this is so good what is the sauce oy soy oyster and soy sauce it’s really good where do you get the the ingredients is there a market yeah Divas Market oh I went there Divas Market yeah I’m sweating like crazy too hot too hot eat it oh yes yeah you should you should you should cowbo you should shave your head no no yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you you want to shave your head no hair we got we cut your hair yeah it looks good all right I’m going to finish this here what was your name April a nice to meet you I’m John no change thank you very much pancake all right let’s check out a pancake here sorry breakfast you want breakfast is that what you said no what does that mean my name is oh his name oh very good nice to meet you nice to meet you I’m John all right let’s get some your weight bro your weight is a little bit oh I no I’m I’m just no no I wasn’t I was just going to get I was just going to get Esau yeah just es out oh you already started the pancake oh she started it already Okay okay yeah all right then one pancake then can I can I show the pancake all right so we wait a minute while the pancake Cooks looks good this pancake is street food in the Philippines you street food pancakes what’s uh what’s the name he um hot cake H hot cake in the Philippines okay you like yeah Mas okay I’ll try it I’ll try it all right we’re going to try a pancake here this is what I thought they they have plenty of places to eat sorry sorry stores there’s one there’s one there’s one plenty of stores hello okay long okay okay long you put little Ron James who’s that Steph Curry look it’s Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant I like Kobe I like KOB pancakes ready all right perfect what what what’s that so you’re adding sweet milk milk yeah good [Music] you okay you guys got to translate for what she just said cuz it made him change his mind cuz I think it was a sale he just turned out a sale for her you need you need more sails okay wow so that’s cheese butter sweet milk wow look at that McConnell 30 bought for one and then and he has one also 70 and all okay 70 and all okay how about all of these Esau do you guys want these 15 for one okay so how much in all n Mago lat 120 70 taka 50 120 120 in all for two pancakes and okay 120 okay here you go no change that’s okay thank you thank you very much thank you I’ll take the pancake all right M up M up yeah nice dance look at this dance we’ve got cheese on top we’ve got all of this we’ve got this uh I think that’s butter right it’s butter and then that’s the condensed milk to make it sweet and then the pancake below this looks so good it this is hot hold on let me let me touch it look at this look how gooey this is cheers hot eat it eat it SAR where are you oh that’s so good thank you for the recommendation that’s delicious can we chop this up and and everyone can have a little piece of it can we do that do we have I I don’t want to just eat in front of people without sharing okay let’s just chop this up look how gooey this is you got to eat this soon before it gets soggy pancake street food popular popular in the Philippines yeah I’ve never seen this before I’ve never eaten this you you guys want to buy it yeah yeah okay everybody you can get one bite yeah you I want this here good all right enjoy that went quick look at that they crushed that it’s good where where do I put the trash all right thank you so much bye bye thank you thank you so much okay let’s go wander down here a little bit more and see what else we got I’m sweating like crazy I have a crowd behind me I’m sweating like crazy guys they’re chanting no money for some reason these kids are hilarious sorry what oh I’m just walking around I just wanted some food you’re home oh I’m in I’m staying in I’m staying in Bondo no money why do you why do you all keep saying that no money what does that mean goodbye goodbye goodbye goodbye good goodbye goodbye okay so we’ll just walk down here to the other Street real quick the kids got oh wait never mind I thought the kids stopped to get on the computer but they they didn’t some of them were coming then we’ll probably we’ll just walk down here to the other Street and then maybe head out it her face was hilarious when I just spoke to goag sorry there’s a dog up there how did that dog get up there there’s some ducks ducks your babies yeah these are your baby ducks oh they’re so cute this is not balute no Balo no that’s after Balo okay we’ve got some dogs taking a bath over [Music] here what’s that fiz pound okay fiz pound all right so yeah this is like a it’s a town but there’s not really a main road that goes through here for driving you you probably need to take one of these tricycles right here and what’s your name John what’s your name okay okay nice to meet you nice to meet you so hey how are you okay you’re okay okay huh so what so hungry POG PG oh wow okay wow yes yes let’s go pgpg you like POG POG yes POG POG yes oh wow okay let’s go I almost forgot about this but here in tondo there’s something called pogp which is made often from thrown out chicken from KFC or Jollibee or something in the trash and they get it out of the trash and they clean it off and they maybe some sauces and seasoning and they heat it up and then sell it again as you see these kids love it oh where’s the the pack pack over here all right everybody calls me bro the kids all right this is something I I couldn’t believe when I heard this meal and I can’t believe that these kids love it hello uh a little I’m learning a little hi Hi how are you John what’s your name Jess nice to meet you Jessica play okay uh we we we’re going to uh we’re I can come back we’re going to get Po from what country you are United States United States okay United States yeah where you from I I’m a Filipino Filipino I live in the Philippines you live in the how uh uh years you you live here like one and a half years I’ve been here more than a year yeah do you have already uh you married already no not yet are you still single yeah yeah yeah here okay may maybe one day I’ll meet someone okay nice to meet you we we’re getting some POG POG okay okay thank you thank you okay so so this seems to be very prominent here the the trash that they they sort through so it seems to be one of the the main jobs here that’s pack pag oh so that’s the pack pag okay we’re going to get pack pack over here okay thank you this little baby is singing karaoke okay or kamusta kamusta kamusta so pieces of chicken the chicken pack pag yes yeah okay so you guys want some pack Pags yes yes yes yes how how many do we want okay five all right okay we’ll get five pack packs yes okay five all right we’re get five pack packs you want one pack pack six pack packs six pack pack okay six yes please um do you want rice no just chicken yes okay you want rice yeah yeah yeah yes please so six moo one pack pack 30 pesos for one pack pack these are already done yeah already cooked okay okay so what is this this is chicken chicken adobo chicken adobo and then rice do you put eggs with this no no so that’s just chicken yeah only chicken okay and so you cook it all right here so where where do you get this sorry Fried Chicken so you find this one is leftovers from the other fast food so like Jollibee or KFC okay so you get the left over here and then you cook it again no uh it will wash three times and then we’ll go to freezer and then okay tomorrow we’ll be cooked what do you wash it with um with boiling water okay boiling water yeah just water okay just water and then you freeze it overnight and then the next the next day you cook it here and here so where do you find this um some other like scavengers you so scavengers go find it and then bring it and sell it to you yeah thank you very much thank you thank you all right thank you thank you have a nice day I think we’re going to get some rain here so I’m going to get on the road and uh and head back to bond hi good morning good morning Hi how are you how are you but like a he said they have a scavenger that they pay they go and find it I guess in the garbage and then they as you heard the process they clean it freeze it and then resell it the next next day and some of these kids loved it but it’s 30 pesos 30 pesos for one piece of pack pad one meal of packpack hello hello how are you how are you hi I’m John hi yeah John John yeah yeah yeah I’m I’m going back to Bon though bye nice to meet you I’m from the US where are you from from my mother you’re from your mother me too have a good one what’s your name John what’s your name Aldo nice to meet Alden nice to meet you Alden this is just the friendliest neighborhood is friendly Hi how are you as friendly as anywhere else I’ve been hello again oh you’re you’re watching your dog thereo Wy is the dog’s name there oh that’s your other dog what’s Lassie how many how many dogs do you have s seven you have seven dogs yeah okay going to meet some dogs oh you have a small one oh oh hi that looks like a sweet dog did we wake you up sorry about that and this one’s your guard dog that’s your guard dog right good and this is Lassie hey Lassie I’m leaving now but it was nice to meet you yes have a good day bye thank you thank you so much have a good day friend my friends uh they’re they’re not my friends are not here now yeah I go now I’m going now yeah nice to meet you have a good day good all right see you many videos focus on the difficulties of life here in Happyland tondo Manila so instead I chose to focus on the positives highlighting the resiliency and positivity of the locals here in Happyland showing that most of the residents here are good people and deserve more than the reputation of just being the dangerous slum in Manila I was met with the same friendliness and smiles that I see everywhere in the Philippines there is no denying the difficulties that the locals do face but I have nothing but respect for someone who works long hours working a difficult job doing anything necessary in order to provide for their family and to survive the perfect example is AE Evelyn the woman who runs the POG poog shop the POG poog is the meal made from the garbage she takes pride in being able to feed her community an affordable meal every day I think most of us would agree that it’s heartbreaking that this meal even has to exist but it does exist and it’s existed long before Evelyn began making it many of the locals eat it every day and seem to love it I will say this is the one part of the video where I’m not sure if I did the right thing when I bought the packpack for the kids my train of thought at the time was that they’re eating it anyway and if I’m buying it for them then their parents don’t have to buy that meal but after I left Hondo I questioned whether or not I provided safe food for them honestly I I still don’t know the answer to that question and I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do luckily Evelyn does everything she can to ensure that it’s as safe as possible to eat and adds her own recipe to make sure that it tastes good her story really is an inspiring one and you see this throughout Happyland I see resourcefulness and resiliency so hopefully you can also take something positive from this video and maybe it’s changed your opinion on Happy Land Tonda Manila and as I am based here in the Philippines if you guys know a great organization here helping a local community I’d love to hear about it so please get in contact with me and let me know about it thank you for watching and I’ll see you in the next one