The order is identical to the one issued in wealthier districts a few kilometres away, and it lands entirely differently. Here, nearly everyone is paid at the end of the day for work done that day.

A rule written for other households

Households of eight share two rooms, water is collected from a shared standpipe, and food is bought in single portions because there is no refrigeration. Every part of the guidance assumes conditions that do not exist.

Aid has arrived in the form of rice distributions, but it is routed through barangay lists that miss the newest arrivals: the same people with the least savings.

Residents are not disputing that the virus is dangerous. They are pointing out that hunger arrives first.