LSI
Nuraiza Kunnang, 20-years old, carries her two-month old baby at a small corner they've called home for the past few weeks located outside a Metro Manila cemetery. They have been living at a makeshift tent outside the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City since the third week of August, hoping to fly back to their hometown in Zamboanga, Mindanao.
Nuraiza says they have been struggling in terms of securing food. Life is doubly hard when the weather is uncooperative. Rainy days mean bearing the cold in unfavorable conditions. The daily needs of her two-month-old baby worry her constantly. The baby no longer has clean clothes in stock. She says they lack food and diapers for her baby.
Nuraiza is not alone. Many of the Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) are having difficulty due to the delays in their flights back to their home provinces. One of the children living in the makeshift tents is having skin rashes.
There is talk that some of the LSIs arriving in their respective provinces still test positive of COVID-19 upon their return.
A total of 97 LSIs are hoping to fly back to Zamboanga and Davao in Mindanao.
The Philippines has over 230,000 cases of COVID-19, among the highest in Southeast Asia.