MANILA, Philippines — When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. "It was so beautiful here before... Children were playing in the streets," San Jose said, adding: "Now we always need to use a boat." These days just the flooded chapel, a cluster of shacks on bamboo stilts where San Jose lives with her family, and a few homes on a bump of land remain. "The sinking is a very serious threat to people, their livelihoods and cultures," said Joseph Estadilla, a spokesman for alliance seeking to protect Manila Bay coastal communities. San Jose explained: "Every year we raise (the floor) of our house.

Source: Philippine Star May 20, 2019 03:22 UTC