The emergence of COVID-19 in the Philippines and the government’s inutile pandemic response has highlighted the long-standing systemic inequalities and injustices in Philippine society: from livelihood, healthcare, education, housing, and other basic services. Because of these perpetuated vulnerabilities, urban poor communities have taken the hardest hit from the crisis and are, presently, struggling to cope with the exacerbated austerity and precarity existing in urban areas. This aggravated the plight of urban poor communities like Sitio San Roque whose residents are mostly low-wage workers with little to no job security: construction workers, laborers, vendors, transport workers, and other workers in the informal economy.

This documentation narrates how the urban poor community of Sitio San Roque has coped with the problems that have emerged in the on-going COVID-19 crisis. It briefly discusses the history of Sitio San Roque, including the various people’s organizations (POs) operating in it, and delves into the situation of the community during the pandemic. It discusses the community’s response and the relevant projects they launched to mitigate the pandemic’s adverse effects including the challenges they encountered in implementing them.

This is a publication under the Social Protection program of Inklusibo.

Written by Maxine Faminiano, Annelle Chua, Samantha Lopez, Nica Bolastig, Prestine Pajarillo, and Rafael Dimalanta.