On any given day, there are 10,000 Americans at Subic Bay. They deal with the big issues like nuclear war and communism. But Philippine President Corazon Aquino must deal with more mundane matters, like the economic crisis her country faces in places like Olongapo and places like Pergasa.
Pergasa is the barrel where the city of Olongapo dumps its garbage. It is also home for the city's most destitute. While Pergasa is separated from the Subic Bay Naval Station by only a few yards, a moat of raw sewage, and a fence of barbed wire, the concerns of its residents could not be more distant.
Verhilio Fransi has lived here almost 10 years. He, his wife, and 8 children, occupy a one-room scrapwood shack. They live off the dump, collecting bottles and plastic cartons.
"In one day, we get almost forty-five, fifty pesos, in one day."
"And who does the work, you or all your children?"
"All of us."
"All of you together. You make forty-five pesos."
"All of us in one day."
"And do you also find food here or not?"
"We got ... we found food, but it's canned foods."
"Can you eat that food?"
"Sometimes, but when it tastes no good, we throw it."
Fransi says some days his children go hungry. The earnings he mentioned for his family of ten come to about $2 a day. In the local dialect, Pergasa means hope. Last year, Verhilio Fransi found a solid gold bracelet in the dump. He sold it for about $10.
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