Manila, Philippines – With the exception of a few pieces of hanging laundry, the first two floors of 65-year-old Veronica Castillo’s three-storey home are practically empty.
“Our belongings are up top. We build our houses upwards here. Every year the floods will scrape the ceilings of the second floor,” Castillo told Al Jazeera, surveying her home in one of Marikina city’s slums, among the most flood-prone areas of Metro Manila.
