Filipinos in slums face brutal poverty. Families live crammed in tiny shacks with no running water or toilets. They pay sky-high prices just to get dirty water from peddlers. This is what $43 a month buys you in places like Manila’s Tondo slum—a shack beside mountains of rotting garbage.

Government leaders have failed these people for decades. They talk about “upgrading strategies” while slums keep growing. The housing budget gets less than 1% of national funds. That’s shameful when families are sleeping on trash heaps.

Billions in foreign aid pour into the Philippines, but where does it go? Not to the poor. Officials waste money on fancy offices instead of fixing water pipes or building homes. Real help means jobs and property rights, not empty promises.

Handouts won’t solve this crisis. Free housing programs just create more dependency. What these communities need is the dignity of work. They need real jobs so they can build their own futures, not beg for scraps.

In America, even our poor have hope. They can work hard and climb out of poverty. That’s the power of freedom. In the Philippines, government rules crush opportunity. Too many rules choke off jobs and trap people in slums.

Why do slums keep growing? Because people flee failed farms and dead-end towns. They crowd into cities chasing dreams. But socialist policies smother those dreams. Red tape and corruption block honest enterprise.

The answer isn’t more government control. It’s unleashing free markets. Give slum families land titles so they can own property. Cut taxes so businesses create jobs. Freedom lifts nations—not welfare programs.

Our hearts break for these families. But America shows the way: self-reliance, not handouts. Every person deserves the shot our founders promised—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That’s the dream we fight for.