Woman in viral Makati sewer incident found; three individuals said to be living in city's drainage system
The Department of Social Welfare and Development announced that it has found the viral individual coming out of a sewer in Makati during broad daylight amid the city traffic.
In its Facebook post on Thursday, May 29, the DSWD shared photos of its staff talking to the woman, who can be seen crying.
"Aalamin ng programa kung ano ang tulong na maaaring maibigay sa kanya at sa kanyang pamilya upang hindi na sila muling malagay sa delikadong kalagayan," it said.
The agency added that social workers have previously talked to the woman in a profiling activity.
According to Makati police, three individuals have been living inside the drainage system in the city aside from the woman.
"Base po sa initial na investigation, sila po ay mga street dwellers sa Barangay Pio Del Pilar," Makati police spokesperson Jenibeth Artista told ABS-CBN News. "Pansamantala po ay nag-seek sila ng temporary shelter po or refuge doon sa area."
A closed-circuit television footage on May 26 at around 4 p.m. showed that in under a minute, three people were able to enter a hole in a canal at the corner of V.A. Rufino and Adelantado Streets in Barangay San Lorenzo, where the viral woman had been spotted.
Like her, the trio managed to slip through the small and narrow hole, which has since been narrowed further and reinforced with cement.
The police are trying to find out how long the canal had been used as a shelter.
They found tools like a screwdriver, pliers, a wrench, and other metal objects inside, and have been considering the possibility of ongoing illegal activities.
Additional investigation revealed that the drainage is connected to a nearby creek and might also be linked to another system along Amorsolo Street. That, the police said, could be an alternate route for these individuals.
In a viral May 26 Reddit post titled Mole People?, a Reddit user shared photos at the corner of V.A. Rufino and Adelantado Streets, where the woman emerges underground.
In a press conference on May 28, Makati City Police Station Chief Jean Dela Torre said the woman, who is a mendicant, has turned the hole into a shelter, where they discovered several things in the hole, including pliers, small objects the individual had supposedly attached, and shirts. She noted that the woman, however, is harmless.
