For years, Manila has been known for its sprawling slum communities, where residents continue to face overcrowding, poor sanitation, disaster risks, and limited access to basic services. Despite these conditions, many communities remain defined by resilience, strong social ties, and thriving informal economies.

Beneath the constant rush of vehicles along Osmeña Highway in Malate, Manila, dozens of informal settler families have built a community underground.

Hidden inside what residents call the “Osmeña tunnel” in Barangay 738, families navigate daily life amid unstable living conditions, poverty, and environmental hazards.

According to residents, more than 50 families once lived underground, including others staying beneath the nearby creek across the highway. The underground settlement stretches across portions of Barangays 738 and 799. For many families, survival beneath the highway has become a life shaped by uncertainty and constant adaptation.

For residents, the harsh conditions underground have become part of daily life, with extreme heat emerging as one of the community’s biggest challenges.

The lack of ventilation inside the tunnel traps heat beneath the highway, making temperatures especially unbearable during the summer months and periods of El Niño.

Jaya Vergara, who has lived underground for three decades, said residents continue to endure the conditions because they have few alternatives, even as they hope for government intervention.

“Number one is the heat, especially during summer and at night, the heat becomes worse because the heat from the top of the highway goes down here,” Vergara said.

Despite the difficult conditions, many families remain in the settlement due to the lack of affordable housing.

“The reason why we are staying here? We don't have a choice. Because this is a free house. The water is free,” she added.

Unlike ordinary residential communities, the underground settlement has little air circulation, leaving residents struggling through sleepless nights caused by intense heat.

While Manila regularly experiences heavy rains during the wet season, residents said rising temperatures linked to climate conditions have become increasingly difficult to manage.