Land of the Living, Dead

Vice Magazine presents this photo essay on a cemetery in Manila that is heavily populated with both the living and the dead. More than 10,000 families make this graveyard their home.

1 minute read

December 17, 2007, 6:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg

"Some families ended up here almost accidentally. Some inherited the mausoleums that they now live in from their great-grandparents. Others came from the provinces and couldn't make enough money to live in the big city. In all cases, they're basically families with nowhere else to go."

"The people who live here manage to extract livelihoods from the dead. Teenagers carry coffins for 50 Filipino pesos-about 50 American cents. Children collect scrap metal, plastic, and other garbage to sell. Their fathers are employed to repair and maintain tombs while their mothers maintain the house, which could be the family mausoleum or the mausoleum of their employers. Rent-free shanties are wedged between or on top of crypts."

FULL STORY: LIVING, DEAD - PART 1

Saturday, December 1, 2007 in Vice Magazine

Housing Social / Demographics Asia-Pacific

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