I just don't understand it when informal settlers (to be polite) are interviewed for television and they admit that life is hard here in Metro Manila but then when they're asked if they would like to return to their provinces, they decline because they say life is hard there too. Is there some kind of bragging rights to be had when you say you're struggling to survive in Metro Manila as compared to saying that you're struggling to survive in, say, Samar?
During one episode of Motorcycle Diaries, Jay Taruc and the other people who run the program helped one family living in the streets of Tayuman to return to Bulacan. I can only wonder if they're still there or if they came back here.