In private residences, economically privileged people can readily provide the necessary spaces to separate their family members from one another and prevent the possible transmission of the offending virus. On the other hand, many of those who belong to the economically challenged segments do not have houses of their own. A large segment of the population has to rent living spaces in crowded locations. Those who cannot afford to pay rent end up as informal settlers in tiny spaces where isolation or self‐quarantine is impossible. Out of 106.7 million Filipinos, 16.6% live below the poverty threshold while 5.2% cannot meet the basic food needs to stay healthy.89 Mapa, C. (2019, December 6). Proportion of Poor Filipinos Was Estimated at 16.6 percent in 2018. Philippine Statistics Office. Retrieved April 27, 2020, from https://psa.gov.ph/poverty‐press‐releases/nid/144752
Among families, 12.1 percent belong to the poor, which is equivalent to around 3 million families. Around 4.5 million Filipinos are either homeless or living in informal settlements. Of this number, about 3 million are living in Metro Manila.90 Chandran, R. (2018, June 7). Slum Dwellers in the Philippines Build Homes through Community Programs. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 18, 2020, from https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia‐South‐Central/2018/0607/Slum‐dwellers‐in‐the‐Philippines‐build‐homes‐through‐community‐programs
Within the Metropolitan Manila area, the city of Manila has been rated as the most densely populated city in the world with 66,000 people per square kilometer, 6 times as much as New York City’s 11,000.91 United Nations Statistics Division. (2015). Demographic and Social Statistics. Demographic Yearbook 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic‐social/products/dyb/dyb_2015.cshtml
It is not difficult to see what this translates into at the community level.