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Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Woman who crawled out of drain in the Philippines found, as a nation grapples with homelessness
Philippine Environment Minister Rex Gatchalian with 'Rose', a woman seen in viral images crawling out of a storm drain at a busy street corner. PHOTO: PHILIPPINE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT Woman who crawled out of drain in the Philippines found, as a nation grapples with homelessness A woman who was seen eerily crawling out of a storm drain in the Philippines has been found and gotten help from the government – her sad plight setting off a conversation about urban homelessness in one of South-east Asia's top growth performers. Acting on instructions from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, a team from the Social Welfare Ministry managed to track 'Rose' to a slum district and brought her to a 'processing centre' to 'undergo a thorough assessment and appropriate intervention'. Photos of Rose crawling out of a narrow drain at a busy street corner late in the afternoon on May 26 in Makati city – her dress and denim shorts caked with grime and her hair streaked with dirt and dried leaves – have gone viral. These images provoked both shock and amusement, with many drawing comparisons to a Japanese horror movie about a ghostly killer clawing her way out of a deep well. But they also triggered heated discussions about homeless people living in a subterranean world beneath gleaming financial districts like Makati, in a nation that has seen growth averaging at 5 to 7 per cent annually. Social Welfare Minister Rex Gatchalian presented Rose to reporters on May 29, and said the ministry was giving her 80,000 pesos (S$1,850) so she can start a sundry neighbourhood store. The ministry will also help her partner, who has welding skills but is jobless and also a vagrant , find a job, said Mr Gatchalian. That gesture, however, has been met with scepticism. 'But it's a whole community! Why choose a band-aid solution,' publisher and editor Chi Balmaceda Gutierrez said in a Facebook post. Ms Rocky Galman, who lives in Brisbane, said in the same thread: 'It's good to help people in need but you need to teach them first, secure their home and food, then give them the ability to work or set up a business. If you give them money without proper education/training, it will just go to waste.' Others even mocked the effort. 'Maybe I'll just go home to the Philippines, look for a sewage canal so I can get 80k to start a business,' said Ms Charise Penafiel, who is working in Hong Kong. A street photographer took these photos of a woman crawling out of a storm drain in Manila's main financial district. PHOTOS: WILLIAM ROBERTS/INSTAGRAM 'Botanical Garden' When she was presented by Mr Gatchalian to the media, Rose said she was not living inside the drain. She said she crawled inside the hole because she dropped a 'cutter blade' into it. But Makati police spokeswoman Captain Jenibeth Artista told GMA News vagrants like Rose were using the drain as an entry and exit point into sewage lines that act as a subterranean roadway. Makati police station chief Colonel Jean Dela Torre told reporters on May 28 that police found several items in the storm drain where Rose emerged from, including pliers and shirts. Mr William Roberts, the amateur street photographer who first took Rose's photos, said in an Instagram post that he found one end of this tunnel system along a creek that its users have dubbed the 'Botanical Garden'. He said he talked to one man he found emerging out of a sewer pipe, Jerwin. He said Jerwin told him: 'We don't live in the canals. We hide in them from the sun, from the police, sometimes to stash what little we have, sometimes to keep each other safe.' Mr Roberts said the story of Rose and Jerwin 'is about the cracks we cover up with concrete, the faces we ignore when they crawl out of the canal'. There are over three million homeless people across Metro Manila – a sprawling metropolis of 16 cities with a combined population of some 14 million. They live in shanties, makeshift pushcarts colloquially known as 'kariton', and wherever they can find shelter – by the side of the road, at cemeteries and apparently in storm drains and sewage tunnels. The Borgen Project – a US-based non-profit – said extreme poverty, domestic violence, human trafficking and natural disasters are the usual push factors behind homelessness in the Philippines. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
May babies: Actress Grace Wong's daughter born in same month as her and husband
Hong Kong actress Grace Wong (middle) with her husband Daniel Chang and their daughter Audrey Chang. PHOTO: GWGURLIE86/INSTAGRAM May babies: Actress Grace Wong's daughter born in same month as her and husband Hong Kong actress Grace Wong will be holding three birthday celebrations in the month of May from now on. Wong, who turned 39 on May 5, announced on social media on May 29 the birth of her daughter via natural delivery. She announced her pregnancy in December 2024. The actress' husband Daniel Chang, who is not from the entertainment industry, was also born in May. 'I always thought I would be the kind of career woman who picked a date for a caesarean section and gave her baby formula milk,' Wong wrote in Chinese. 'But as I formed a relationship with my baby during the nine months of pregnancy, she seemed to tell me that I could do it. I did more research and wanted to give her the best within my capabilities.' She thanked her doctor for giving her the confidence to change her choice of delivery method in the last four months of her pregnancy. 'It really worked out in the end as our baby girl was born naturally,' Wong wrote, revealing that her daughter's name is Audrey Chang. 'She is very special as she arrived past 12am so her birthday is next to her dad's birthday,' Wong wrote. 'I wonder if she will be a daddy's girl in the future.' Wong thanked her husband for accompanying her throughout the journey and for being her biggest cheerleader, adding: 'You're gonna be the best daddy.' She also thanked the medical team at Hong Kong's Union Hospital. 'We felt very loved and supported during our stay,' she wrote in English. 'Thanks for celebrating Danny's bday n Mother's Day w me as well.' Using hashtags such as #MayBabies, Wong wrote: 'Off to a new season with our little one. We love you so much and can't wait to see you grow up.' The first runner-up of the Miss Hong Kong pageant in 2007, Wong is best known for starring in the TVB martial arts drama A Fist Within Four Walls (2016). Her role as Fa Man was named Most Popular Female Character at the TVB Anniversary Awards in 2016. She registered her marriage with Mr Chang, whom she had dated for 11 years, in 2016 and they held a wedding ceremony in 2017. Wong announced in December 2021 that she was leaving TVB after 14 years with the Hong Kong broadcaster. She took part in Chinese dance survival show Great Dance Crew in 2022 and is also now a singer. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Climate
- Straits Times
Chinese paraglider reaches near-record heights, over 8,500m, by accident
Paraglider Peng Yujiang's face and body are covered in frost and ice as a rapidly rose to nearly 8,600m above sea level. PHOTO: VISUALS_CHINA/INSTAGRAM BEIJING – A paraglider in China who intended to simply test some equipment instead ended up unwittingly reaching barely survivable heights last week. Mr Peng Yujiang, a 55-year-old paraglider in Gansu province, early on May 24 flew nearly 8,600m above sea level in the Qilian mountain range of north-west China's Qinghai and Gansu provinces, according to state media. The episode was captured on a camera attached to his equipment and showed the harrowing conditions he experienced. Mr Peng rose to a level almost on par with Mount Everest's summit and aviation flight paths. His face and body are covered in frost and ice in the video, which was originally posted to social media and later shared by Chinese state media. 'I felt the lack of oxygen. My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to talk on the radio,' Mr Peng said in a video recorded after the incident, according to Sixth Tone, an English-language, Chinese state-owned outlet. According to local news media, Mr Peng was testing equipment as part of 'ground-handling training' – a step that paragliders say is critical to managing safe launches – at an altitude of 3,000m above sea level. But a strong wind suddenly lifted him into the sky. He could not control the glider or land as the draft grew stronger, and he was pulled up above the clouds. Mr Peng was apparently the victim of a potentially dangerous phenomenon that paragliders call 'cloud suck', in which a pilot is rapidly drawn upward into a cloud. At extreme altitudes, people risk hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, because of the thin air. Severe hypoxia can cause organ damage or death. Still, Mr Peng managed to land about 32km away from where he took off. In stable health and recovering from his surprise flight, he has since said, 'Thinking about it still makes me quite scared,' China Daily reported on May 29. The local sporting authority in Gansu province said on May 28 that Mr Peng, who is a licensed paraglider, would be barred from the sport for six months. It also noted that flying activities at sites in the area would be suspended for an unspecified period, local news media reported. But the association deemed Mr Peng's incident an accident, based on his statement that he did not have a flight planned and was doing ground-handling training, which does not require participants to register plans in advance, the reports said. A second pilot was also banned from flying for six months because he released footage of the incident without permission, the authority's report said, according to the South China Morning Post. Mr Peng was not the first paraglider to accidentally reach such extreme heights. In 2007, Ms Ewa Wisnierska, a champion Polish paraglider who competed on the German national team, reached around 10,000m, accidentally breaking the paragliding height record on a practice flight in Australia, just days before the World Paragliding Championships. Her ascent was treacherous, and she passed out in the air, eventually landing more than 80km away from where she took off, on a farm. Another paraglider who was caught in cloud suck that day did not survive. 'Today, I still fly – but just for pleasure and to give courses to the people who come to my paragliding school. Competing no longer makes any sense to me,' Ms Wisnierska told People magazine in 2024. 'This definitely changed a lot of priorities and made me realise that there are much more important things in life than championship cups and medals. I often ask myself why was it that I survived and this other pilot did not?' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
TNT Sports presenter Miroslava Montemayor stuns in see-through top as she gets ready to host Champions League final
The Mexican is a former model and represented her country at Miss International MEX APPEAL TNT Sports presenter Miroslava Montemayor stuns in see-through top as she gets ready to host Champions League final Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MEXICAN TV host Miroslava Montemayor has turned heads with a stunning look ahead of the Champions League final. The 35-year-old presents TNT Sports' coverage of the tournament in Mexico. 5 Miroslava Montemayor has stunned with a plunging see-through outfit Credit: INSTAGRAM @tntsportsmex and @miroslavamont 5 The Mexican is TNT's Champions League host Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont 5 Miroslava is a former model and represented Mexico at Miss International 2013 Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont 5 The 35-year-old has fronted TNT's coverage of the CL since 2019 Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont Miroslava is known for her daring on-air fashion choices. And her latest wardrobe choice has sent her 884,000 followers into a frenzy. Miroslava previewed PSG's showdown against Inter Milan on Saturday night. She picked her best XI of the tournament - controversially leaving out Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal. But fans admitted they "forgive her" as she dazzled in a gorgeous see-through black dress. One fan gasped: "You are a queen." Another commented: "Simply stunning." Miroslava also gave her followers a glimpse into TNT's halftime show for the final in Munich. Rocking a traditional German dirndl, she wrote: "Behind the scenes of rehearsals for the Champions League halftime show… Munich, here we come!" One lovestruck fan replied: "I need to watch this." Champions League places CONFIRMED after Aston Villa VAR controversy as Newcastle have to be saved by Man Utd And a second said: "The look is EVERYTHING." Miroslava represented her country at Miss International 2013 in Japan. She began her foray into TV over a decade ago after leaving modelling behind. 5 Miroslava rocked traditional German dress as the TNT team prepare to head to Munich Credit: INSTAGRAM @lareimers and @miroslavamont Her first TV gig was on Azteca Noreste sports show ADN. She joined up with ESPN in 2015, fronting a number of their Spanish-language shows. The presenter turns her hand to everything from American football to tennis. Miroslava left ESPN in 2019 to join TNT, where she has since fronted the network's Champions League coverage in Mexico.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
TNT Sports presenter Miroslava Montemayor stuns in see-through top as she gets ready to host Champions League final
MEXICAN TV host Miroslava Montemayor has turned heads with a stunning look ahead of the Champions League final. The 35-year-old presents TNT Sports' coverage of the tournament in Mexico. Advertisement 5 Miroslava Montemayor has stunned with a plunging see-through outfit Credit: INSTAGRAM @tntsportsmex and @miroslavamont 5 The Mexican is TNT's Champions League host Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont 5 Miroslava is a former model and represented Mexico at Miss International 2013 Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont 5 The 35-year-old has fronted TNT's coverage of the CL since 2019 Credit: Instagram @miroslavamont Miroslava is known for her And her latest wardrobe choice has sent her 884,000 followers into a frenzy. Miroslava previewed PSG's showdown against Inter Milan on Saturday night. She picked her best XI of the tournament - controversially leaving out Barcelona wonderkid Advertisement READ MORE ON FOOTBALL But fans admitted they "forgive her" as she dazzled in a gorgeous see-through black dress. One fan gasped: "You are a queen." Another commented: "Simply stunning." Miroslava also gave her followers a glimpse into TNT's halftime show for the final in Munich. Advertisement Most read in Football Rocking a traditional German dirndl, she wrote: "Behind the scenes of rehearsals for the Champions League halftime show… Munich, here we come!" One lovestruck fan replied: "I need to watch this." Champions League places CONFIRMED after Aston Villa VAR controversy as Newcastle have to be saved by Man Utd And a second said: "The look is EVERYTHING." Miroslava represented her country at Miss International 2013 in Japan. Advertisement She began her foray into TV over a decade ago after leaving modelling behind. 5 Miroslava rocked traditional German dress as the TNT team prepare to head to Munich Credit: INSTAGRAM @lareimers and @miroslavamont Her first TV gig was on Azteca Noreste sports show ADN. She joined up with ESPN in 2015, fronting a number of their Spanish-language shows. Advertisement The presenter turns her hand to everything from American football to tennis. Miroslava left ESPN in 2019 to join TNT, where she has since fronted the network's Champions League coverage in Mexico.
