More than two years after a tragedy at a garbage dump in Manila that took the lives of more than 230 Filipinos, many people living in and around the site still earn a living by scavenging there, a Japanese aid worker said Monday.
"It is quite difficult for them to get out from their reliance on picking and selling items from the dump site," Yoko Ito told a gathering in Tokyo. "They do not have any other choice."
For about five years, Ito has been providing medical and vocational training for residents of Manila's Payatas district together with other members of the nonprofit organization Intercommunication Center for Asia and Nippon.