The Invisible Lady of Binondo

The Invisible Lady of Binondo

Seating inside our home, I noticed the sound of the rain outside. It was just a light rain, probably a good thing for some of us as it always results in colder weather afterward. 

I grabbed my camera. I'm planning to spend my entire day post-processing all the photos I took in my two-day escapade in the City of Manila.

As I scroll through my shots, I saw this one photo that stood out from the rest. I noticed it not because it's the only human photo on my camera, but also because the person's eyes captured an emotion: sadness.

As I made sure to feel warm in this cold weather, I started to think about her and her little kids. 

Is it also raining where they are currently in? 

If they are, have they been wet?

Have they eaten yet? 

I feel guilty because all I can do is to remember them and feel sad about how our system has failed to provide them a decent shelter or something to eat. 

She was once a kid also, and I couldn't stop thinking about what dreams does she have when she's still in her youth; I couldn't stop thinking about the reasons she ended up in the streets of Binondo with her kids; I couldn't stop worrying about the tomorrow that waits for the Invisible Lady of Binondo and her children. 

It is so ironic that she's in a place called Lucky Chinatown, one of the few districts in Manila where commerce and trade are prosperous. Lots of businesses, lots of opportunities, but only the few one's succeeded to shield themselves from the fang of poverty. And the Invisible Lady, surely, is one of those unlucky ones in Lucky Chinatown. She was deprived of shelter, food, and most probably, a right to have rights.

I have given her the name Invisible Lady for a reason that in my few minutes of standing near her, acting like I was just observing and drinking water, I saw how people did not even bat an eye at her or her kids. People just casually walked past them, oblivious to their suffering. In the same way how the Invisible Woman is also oblivious to her surroundings, just staring at the vast space of this unfair concrete jungle. 

As someone who has a habit of going out alone and carefully observe things, this lady and her kids, their photo will always be stuck in my mind. That is why I gave her a name. I believe, she deserves to be remembered, she deserves to be noticed. 

The Invisible Lady, her kids, and those who belong to their category, millions of them, shouldn't be invisible in society's eyes, they should be a highlight and a symbol of the long history of poverty and lack of basic needs in the Philippines, caused by corruption and the huge gap between the different social classes of our nation.

Now, when we eat our dinner later tonight, on a table protected by roof and walls from the harshness of the weather outside, let's not forget to thank the Lord for all the privileges that we have regardless of all the problems we've been enduring for so long. 

And when you go out, don't ignore the types of the Invisible Lady of Binondo. If you can give something to them, then do it, and if you can't, don't just walk through them, look at them, and give them a genuine smile as they deserve better treatment from society, from us.

These people deserve a place in our consciousness, they deserve to be noticed.