Philippine Environment Minister Rex Gatchalian with “Rose”, a woman seen in viral images crawling out of a storm drain at a busy street corner. -- PHOTO: PHILIPPINE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT
MANILA (The Straits Times/ANN): A woman who was seen eerily crawling out of a storm drain in the Philippines has been found and got help from the government – her sad plight setting off a conversation about urban homelessness in one of South-east Asia’s top growth performers.
Acting on instructions from Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, a team from the Social Welfare Ministry managed to track down “Rose” at a slum district, and took her to a “processing centre” to “undergo a thorough assessment and appropriate intervention”.
