Artex, Malabon: A Waterworld Village

During the monsoon season, many areas in Metro Manila are prone to flooding. But in Malabon, just north of the suburbs of Manila, flood is a regular occurrence—rainy season or not---because of its low location and its proximity to Manila Bay.

One of Malabon’s lowest-lying areas is Panghulo, where a small housing village known as Artex is permanently submerged in flood. The houses in Artex have been sunk in five-foot flood since 2004, and the water has never receded into the bay. It has stayed put, permanently changing the way of life of the Artex residents.

The main reason why the flood stayed in the compound is the changing geography and economy of Malabon. With urban population growth, many of the old fishing ponds surrounding Artex Compound were converted into housing villages. The ponds were filled with soil and the area elevated. The conversion of ponds to housing villages resulted in the construction of roads, raising further the land surrounding the Artex Compound, and thereby turning it into a virtual wash basin. All of the 200 houses of Artex sank in five-foot deep waters. During heavy storms, the flood could reach up to ten feet deep. Luckily, all the houses are two stories high, with the ground floor submerged and the second floor more or less dry.

The Artex residents, most of whom are poor, have chosen to stay in the village. They have no other place to go, no relocation site better than what they have in Artex. The people have decided they can live with the flood. It is a hard life indeed, but the Artex people, like most Filipinos living in poverty, have persevered. The permanence of the floods is harsh reality they have learned to adapt well to. They have built small boats to get around the village, to go to work, school or market, or to get in or out of the village. Despite the hardship, no family has immediate plans to leave the village.

The people of Artex continue to live "normal" lives despite the abnormal situation they find themselves in. In fact, many consider themselves lucky to have a home they call their own— even if the lower-half of the houses is sunk in water. Indeed, it is better than being homeless. The residents consider the permanent flood as the “new normal”--they can live with it, they have lived with it, they will endure it.

Artex Compound, however, has not always been a waterworld. There was a time not so long ago when people still walked---instead of paddle--the streets of Artex. The compound was built in 1979 by the Artex Yupangco Textile Mills Corporation---one of the Philippines’ largest textile manufacturers in the 1960s and 1970s—as a housing project for its laborers.

In 1984, however, the Artex Labor Union staged a strike against the corporation, claiming inhuman conditions at work and below minimum-wage rates. They demanded better facilities and payment of back wages they claim the company owed them for the years they were underpaid. They stopped working until the company paid them what they demanded. The company, however, stood its ground. While salary rates were indeed below those mandated by law, the company insisted the gap was compensated for by the housing units workers get to live in free of rent; i. e., the Artex Compound.

There was thus an impasse between the company and its laborers. Lawsuits were filed and counter-filed, with each of the parties not yielding to each other’s demands. The Artex workers held their ground and stayed in the housing compound despite the company’s demand they vacate it. In 1989, the Artex Yupangco Textile Mills Corporation finally shut down, not because the company simply decided to give up on the business, but rather because of the worsening flood situation in the compound and the factory. In the rainy season of 1989, the flood was higher than usual. Although the waters still receded into the bay, the flood was becoming more frequent, even on summer months.

The Artex residents, now jobless, contributed what little money they had to buy an expensive water pump to spill the water outside the compound. But in 2004, as more lands surrounding Artex were elevated by the construction of new roads, and more fishing ponds were converted into housing villages, the Artex Compound virtually became a wash basin—the lowest-lying area in all of Panghulo, Malabon. No matter how long and hard they used their water pump, the flood simply spilled back into the village. It was a waste of time and money. The compound became a virtual waterworld.

The permanent flood did not stop the company and the resident-laborers from battling each other in the courts, despite the fact that all of the houses have all been now permanently submerged. Legally, the Artex Yupangco Textile Mills still owns the housing compound, but as part of their continuing protest, the resident-laborers would not leave the houses unless the company paid them their back wages.

And so, even as Artex residents struggled to cope living with the flood day in and day out, at the back of their minds, they are nagged by a far graver fear -- that any time the courts could issue an order for them to vacate their submerged houses. As yet, the residents are complacent with what they have, still waiting for the uncertain future.

They might have weathered the flood, but the legal battle rages on.

I interviewed Aling Lourdes Mariano, 58 years old, one of the old residents of Artex Compound. A former worker in the textile mills, she was one of the lucky ones to be given a housing unit in the Artex Compound. She grew up in Panghulo, Malabon and thus has known flood all her life. Luckily, the houses of Artex are all two stories high, enabling residents to keep dry on the upper floors.

Today, Aling Lourdes and her family keep body and soul together with the help of a small sari-sari store business. She sells a variety of retail goods to her neighbors, like a pint of vinegar, a pack of garlic, or snack foods. A bag attached with strings is slid from her store to her customer’s house. Her clients would shout out to Aling Lourdes (window to window) what they wanted to buy -- say, for instance, a bottle of cooking oil. Aling Lourdes would put the bottle inside a bag and slide it through the strings into the neighbor’s window. The neighbor then puts the payment inside the same bag and slides it back to Aling Lourdes' store. Some customers, too far away for the strings to reach, paddle their way to Aling Maria’s store to buy the commodities. Business is done this way, everyday.

“It’s really hard to live here in Artex,” says Aling Lourdes, “But we have survived. We have no choice. And we have learned to love this compound despite the flood.”

“Has anyone drowned here?” I asked.

“There was a drunken man who went home one very late night who drowned. His body was discovered early the next morning. Aside from him, no one has drowned here.”

“Are there no plans to rehabilitate Artex, say, to fill these waters with soil?”

“That would be a very expensive project. Most of us who live here are poor, so we cannot afford it.”

“Is the local government trying to help you?”

“Local politicians always campaign here during election time, with lots of promises to help us. But so far, we have received very little support from them.”

“Are you prepared to live here all your life?”

“We really have no choice. If we are destined to live here all the days of our lives, then so be it. Besides, we have come to love this place, and we have already found ways to live with the flood. It is hard but we have to accept it.”

“Is there any news update on the lawsuit between the Artex residents and the Yupangcos?”

“As far as I know, the case is still in the courts. If the courts decide that we should leave Artex, then we would leave. But the Yupangcos must pay us our back wages. We will not leave unless they pay us."

“What if by miracle, you wake up one day and the flood is gone?”

“Then we would be the happiest people in the world”.

Note: This article has been originally published at the Philippine Online Chronicles, now one of the world's leading web news magazine on the Philippines. Please visit the.poc.net here and read more interesting articles about the Philippines!