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In this video, I explore the fascinating and little-known world of a community living in a cemetery in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Despite its unconventional location, this community has made a life for themselves among the graves and mausoleums, and I give you a firsthand look at their unique way of living.
We start by meeting some of the residents, who tell us about their daily routines and how they manage to make ends meet. We see how they have adapted to their surroundings, from setting up makeshift homes in between the graves to using the cemetery’s water source for their daily needs.
We also learn about the challenges they face, including the stigma and discrimination that comes with living in a cemetery, as well as the risks of being evicted by the government. Despite these obstacles, the community remains resilient and determined to keep their way of life.
As we explore the cemetery, we see the beauty and history of the place, including the ornate tombs and sculptures that surround the residents’ homes. We also witness the strong sense of community that exists among the residents, who support each other through good times and bad.
Thanks for watching, and I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments and opinions in the comment section down below.
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My name is Drew Binsky and I’ve been to all 197 countries in the world. I make travel videos about people, culture, and anything else I find interesting on the road. My ultimate goal is to inspire you to travel far and wide because our planet is beautiful!
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41 Comments
The boy who watches your videos seems like a smart kid. He can conversate in complete English sentences.
That kid casually speak English quite litโก๐ต๐ญ๐๐คฉ๐ฅ
That kid melts my heart. I pray and I hope that someday he will finish his college and find a nice job that will help him and his family out of living in the cemetery.
Gilvert is so adorable kid.. So fluent and smart thogh he live in cementery. ๐
This cemetery settlers story is not new. It's been there way before social media saw it. Which means lack of affordable housing in Manila still exist up to this day and it sad that for how many years the problem in housing, even the government is aware of there situation, doesn't solve and will still continue.
Hey that is near our place..and i like riding my bike inside. There are paths there that there are no one insight. Trails there are great in an eerie silent way.
God bless you Drew! ๐๐ป
So the Manila South Cemetery is apparently NOT in Makati, but rather it's SURROUNDED by it as it's within an exclave of the San Andres district of Manila. The exclave exists simply because of the cemetery, which I find fascinating. It reminds of the time I lived in NJ and how Hoboken is so small that they don't have space for burials of their locals so they created a cemetery in North Bergen (simply called the Hoboken Cemetery) for them. Weehawken did the same. So a chunk of North Bergen is just cemeteries.
And under former Mayor Isko Moreno, Manila passed an ordinance for 26,000 square feet for an Islamic cemetery within Manila South in 2020. It was inaugurated in June 2021. Your interaction with the kids playing pogs and the fan was so wholesome! While we may view this lifestyle as creepy, they see it as simply a way of life and they make the most of living there. From the people who live on tiny Migingo in Lake Victoria to this community who live in a cemetery in a dense city, these are examples that life always finds a way and that anything can be possible. As they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
That Gilbert kid is smart. Hope someone can gift him with a good camera and tablet for him to edit with.
Considering Filipinos believe those who died return in the form of a moth, I don't blame them for wanting to maintain their cemetery well so the spirits approve. We have our own horse-like mythical creature too called the Chollima. It has wings and is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted by any mortal man as it can travel one thousand li (over 310 miles) in a single day. To us, it symbolizes the constant fighting spirit of the Korean people, and the innovations and advance so quickly. We've used the Chollima's name for the Chollima Movement program to promote fast economic development after the war as US raids severely destroyed the country. There's a big statue of the Chollima in Pyongyang that was built in 1961.
Drew, just FYI. Not all Filipinos are good at speaking in English fluently (just like that guy who's speaking Tagalog when he answered your question).
Even I, am Filipino, myself, also not good at speaking in English, although I'm good at writing in English. Not to mention I saw some Youtube videos about foreigners making prank videos on Filipinos to speak English only [so those Filipinos (who were victimized by that funny prank) tried to speak in English correctly], then those foreigners actually also speak Tagalog (and even other Filipino dialect: Visaya/Cebuano) to surprise Filipinos in funny way.
Anyway, amazing video. Keep it up and Stay Safe, Drew Binsky. ๐
Manila south cemetery is 25 hectares by land area establish in 1925 and owned by Manila Govt., and have an estimated of 750,000 plus graves,800 families living inside the cemetery.notable person burried in south cemetery was former Manila Mayor Ramon Bagatsing and Leon Guinto.
I used to have a classmate in my high-school year who lives within a cemetery. We used to do "shots" in his house during his birthday, i remember hopping between graves before we reach their house๐..There's also a Jail within that cemetery.. Pretty weird right ๐
i never thought there will be different kind of foreigner vlogger in the Philippines because most of them are about food travel but you are definitely a different flavor from all them. Salute brother.
Non sense tabi tabi po๐๐๐
The belief in tikbalang, nuno (dwarves),* etc. are pre-colonial and animist in origin. Before the Spanish, Filipinos believed in an "otherworld", a spirit world superimposed over the material world. The spirit world is inhabited by both the spirits of dead humans and non-human nature spirits (a belief shared by almost all pre-religion ancient peoples worldwide, including Japanese Shinto and European fairies and elves).
"Tabi tabi po" or "Tabi apo" literally means "Please make way, elder", roughly equivalent to "Pardon our passing, elder" or "Excuse us, elder". It's meant to convey respect to the invisible spirits so they understand you are not just barging into their territory. When insulted, these spirits have the ability to curse people with strange ailments (or even abduct them altogether), which is why special care is taken when you're in an area believed to be inhabited by such spirits (usually tree groves, old trees, strange rock formations, waterfalls, deep forests, etc., anything which feels eerie or otherworldly).
*The tikbalang was NOT originally a half-man half-horse monsters (horses are not natives to the islands). And the nuno were not originally dwarves. They acquired those descriptions during the Spanish era, via comparison with Spanish mythology (notably the duende). Both the tikbalang and the nuno were originally nature spirits.
Tikbalang, as recorded in early Spanish books in the Philippines, were tree spirits who live in fig trees (balete), who sometimes cause unreasoning panic for travelers who pass under the fig tree's branches at night. While nuno is a more general term for spirits (it literally means "ancestor") and depending on the ethnic group, it can refer to tree spirits, spirits of rocks, anthills, or even animals like old crocodiles. Like all nature spirits, they are shapeshifters (the original meaning of "baliw", which in modern tagalog means "crazy") who are normally invisible but at times can take the appearance of a helpless person (like an old man or a child), an animal (usually birds), a tiny human (cf. brownies/fairies/dwarves), or a monstrous creature.
Fig trees (balete) were of special importance to Filipino animism not only because they are huge and imposing, but because most of them are hollow. Fig trees (i.e. strangler figs) start out as vines that climb over a tree and then slowly kill it. Replacing it as it grows into a tree. The dead tree inside rots away, leaving a hollow interior. This hollow is believed to be a direct gateway to the spirit world (especially at twilight), which is why they were treated with both fear and veneration (remember that animism doesn't have "gods" per se). As a gateway to the spirit world, they were figuratively the trees of death. They are avoided by common people, but sometimes communicated with by pre-colonial shamanesses (the baylan, ancient Filipino shamans were almost always women or feminized men).
Most of these beliefs didn't die out. Instead they got coopted and warped by the introduction of Christianity. Resulting in the superstitions still almost universally shared by Filipinos today.
i love all your videos Drew but the ones about PH are my fav. im Swiss but i have so much love for Pinoy People and the Country wil go back soon. Mabuhay
Drew I love your vlogs youโre a natural story teller and showing us different part of the world ๐โค๏ธspecially Philippines ๐ต๐ญ
Hello Drew thatโs awsome. Wow amazing. Love ur content
Nok nok ! Whos there ?
Hey Drew… So just to give you an idea of the extraordinary creatures your friend is talking about; and a little bit of a story…
As a child, I flew home to Iloilo to visit my family. I ended up staying at my uncle's farm house. They told me of these stories like what the people of the cemetery are talking about. One night we got back from the city and none of the helpers were around except my uncle and the driver that took us to the city. We were walking back to the house from his long driveway and i saw a tall shadow smoking a cigarette underneath one of the trees… I pointed at the figure and asked my uncle who that is… he looked over and the sheer terror in his eyes was unforgettable… he yelled at the driver standing in front of us to hurry up and get inside the house… he dragged me along as i stayed staring at the figure… i saw the tall figure point at us, flick his cigarette and start charging at us… we rushed inside the house and slammed the door shut. The driver held the door closed with my uncle and all i heard was loud banging at the door as if trying to break it down… after 2-3 minutes of banging, it stopped. My uncle sat me down and told me the story of Kapre… i will never forget that day. it was one of my first encounters with the supernatural.
Omg what I'm Shocked never seen 28 years old me.. ๐ฎ God will protect all who lives in there ๐
These people should be relocated to housing programs. Cemeteries should be cleared also and security guard installed
Wahhahaha i just subscribed to his channel..hope that will help his family..โค๐๐๐ต๐ญ
That kid so pure ๐ฅฐ Hi Gilbert!
These guys are such liars!!!! Tikbalangs and duwendes are creatures of filipino folklores!
I was so impressed with the kid cooking, he is very smart and speaks decent english!!!!
If I may, I like to correct the filipino blogger companion of Drew. The Tikbalang eventhough they may look like an "extraordinary creature" to those people that has a third eyes can see it, but they are actually supernatural entities or elementals. What the other guy Noknok saw is what they call "Shadow People" in the states.
In Samoa we bury our loved ones on our property
Scary
Huhu I hope I saw u when u were here in the Philippines. When are you going to go back here? Iโm a huge fan since 2019!
I like Chiu not only a food Vlogger but also a Cemetery tourist guide! ๐๐
Thank you for coverage the living people's in that area.God bless you.
The most wierd thing about this for me is the amount of pointing cuz it was always disrespectful for my family to point fingers while in cementaries…..
@gilbertbreva1401 subscribe done po ๐.. magsikap ka lang sa buhay.. ma kaka ahon ka rin.. ๐
Hi Drew are you still in the Philippines
I thought it's weird to live in the cemetery until Queen Elizabeth died last year when the media was showing what they call the Royal Vault. The Royal Vault is nothing but a basement where Royal Coffins are left sitting on the shelves and hallways. They never bury the coffins. It's really no difference than leaving the coffins in the living room of a house forever.
The Royal Vault is on the basement of Windsor Castle church which is surrounded by houses. Living in the houses nearby might not be as weird as going to a basement full of floating dead coffins.
The weird thing is that part is owned and is part of Manila City despite everything around it is Makati City. The cemetery is actually run by the Manila government. You should see Manila North Cemetery with more people.
As a Filipino, I can confirmed that I always see in the news about people living in the cemetery…
totoo Ang tikbalang nakakita na ako nyan nung grade 6 ako
How are you