METRO

DSWD relocates 49 tunnel-dwelling Manila families

Sean A. Magbanua · Sep 30, 2026, 11:07 PM

WORKERS from the Department of Public Works and Highways demolish makeshift structures beneath the Osmeña Highway tunnel covering Barangays 738 and 799 in Malate, Manila. The inter-agency operation cleared living spaces occupied for decades by 49 informal settler families as part of a joint government initiative with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Housing Authority. — Photograph by Zedrich Xylak Madrid for DAILY TRIBUNE

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) supervised the relocation of 49 families living inside an urban tunnel in Manila to permanent government housing units in Bulacan on Wednesday.

The beneficiary families, formerly living in a tunnel structure along Osmeña Highway in Barangay 738, Malate, Manila, received permanent single-family homes built by the National Housing Authority (NHA) at the St. Ildephonsus Resettlement Village in Barangay Anyatam, San Ildefonso, Bulacan.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian stated during a briefing that the joint initiative between the DSWD, the NHA, and the local government of Manila aims to move vulnerable urban families into safe, dignified living spaces.

Prior social census operations identified 84 total families residing inside the Malate tunnel facility.

The DSWD provided the remaining families with temporary rental assistance allowances while additional permanent housing units undergo construction.

Among the beneficiaries was Lourdes Quitara, a senior citizen who had resided in informal settlements across Malate since the 1980s before receiving her first permanent home title under the relocation program.