The document discusses focus group discussions with adolescents in Baseco, an urban slum in Manila. It finds that adolescent girls have greater determination to remain in school than boys. While family and education are highly valued, poverty forces many youth to work or drop out of school. Living conditions and opportunities vary between the newer "Village" areas and older, more deteriorated "Squatter" areas of Baseco.

2.  Gender literature generally shows adolescent girls
as disadvantaged vis-à-vis adolescent boys
 A study of young people’s depictions of their
everyday lives in Baseco, an urban informal
settlement of 10,000 poor families on Manila Bay.
 Adolescent girls show greater determination than
boys to remain in school; they hope to complete
at least high school and aim for college

3.  23 focus group discussions included 8 FGDs among
14-17 year olds, 4 all-girls and 4 all-boys, in school and
out-of-school, in “Village” and “Squatter” sections of
the community
 The rest of the FGDs covered gay adolescents, teen-
aged mothers, young adults 18-25, and specific groups
like school officials; their data results are not included
here.
 This qualitative research was conducted over 8 months
in 2009-10. The main field researcher comes from the
district and resided in Baseco for three months of
intensive interviewing and participant observation.

5.  “Squatter” informal settlement – mostly physically
deteriorated landfill area on Manila Bay regularly
flooding from heavy rains and tides, leaving
stagnant pools, garbage strewn about; fly and
mosquito infested, densely packed shanties,
irregular street pattern
 “Village” – two areas sponsored by Habitat for
Humanity and Gawad Kalinga, NGOs which have
recently constructed row and single-family housing
in regular street patterns utilizing participatory
sweat equity approaches.

6.  Men – construction workers, laborers, security
guards, truck drivers, vendors, jeepney and
tricycle drivers, welders, watch repair, plumbers,
carpenters, etc.
 Women –sari-sari or variety store, vendors,
laundrywomen, street sweepers, domestic
helpers/ nannies, make items sold through NGOs,
a few bookkeepers-cashiers

7.  Youth – scavenging for plastics and metal; fishing
and collecting shellfish from the sea, selling food
in neighborhood, construction labor, carrying
loads
 Most families are below the poverty threshold for
the National Capital Region: P8,569 (US$200) in
2008 for a family of 5 (but many families have
large family sizes
 People’s poverty threshold: poor are those unable
to eat regularly three times a day

9.  The Philippines ranks 6th globally in providing equal
opportunities for women (World Economic Forum 2007
Gender Gap Report)
 As of 2006, there are more Filipino women supervisors
and executives than men (2.267 million vs. 2.162 million,
respectively)
 Businesses having women in senior management
positions: globally 59%; Philippines 97%
 Philippines shares Southeast Asian pattern of women as
traders dominant in small-scale enterprises, holders of
cash, and serving as family treasurer

10. FEMALE MALE
 Enrollment  Enrollment
 Primary 91%  Primary 89%
 Secondary 66%  Secondary 55%
 Tertiary 32%  Tertiary 26%
(UNESCO) (UNESCO)
 Attendance rates  Attendance rates
 Primary 89%  Primary 88%
 Secondary 70%  Secondary 55%

12.  Female qualities: care, nurturance, attention to
detail, multi-tasking, perseverance, flexibility,
restraint, self-discipline, warm, emotional,
trusting, demure, obedient, patient, passive, long-
suffering, deferent to husband and catering to his
needs, extra care to sons, corresponding self-
reliance vis-à-vis herself
 Female roles: housewife, household management
and decision making in daily activities, household
chores, child care, trading and small-scale
businesses, obtaining credit and loans;
supplementary income earning; home as her base

13.  In poor families: The mother becomes the fallback and
enduring partner in the struggle to feed the family and
improve the children’s lives when the father cannot or does
not fulfill the provider role adequately. She takes the
initiative to find ways for the children to survive and
improve their lives. Women take on major leadership
positions in urban informal settlement community
organizations.
 Adolescent girls: expected to take on the above traits, with
specific roles in caring for younger siblings and doing
housework to help mother. Learn from the mother. Go to
school as long as possible (for both girls and boys);
expectation of parents that their daughters more than sons
will support them in their old age.

14.  Male qualities: Physical strength, aggressive,
impersonal, analytical, task-oriented rather
than emotional, distrusting,
 Male roles: head of the family, ensuring
family’s economic and physical security,
secondary childcare, chores outside the home,
disciplinarian, authority figure

15.  In poor families: Men who do not succeed in providing for
the family take alternative paths. Few have access to the
coveted wage-dominant regular jobs in factories as was
once the case. Now pursue multiple low-paying jobs,
expecting the wife to cope with whatever income he brings
in; engaging in drinking and gambling; frequent arguments
at home about money resulting in violence against wife and
children, or abandoning the family
 Adolescent males: contribute to family income – peddle
items on street, scavenge metals and plastic for resale, fish
and shellfish from the sea; shine shoes, watch cars; go to
school as long as possible, help and learn from father

17.  Negative self-appraisals are stronger than positive,
especially for those out of school. Emphasis on their
degrading situations and the need for change. Poor,
pathetic, deprived of material needs and opportunities, go
around almost naked, dirty, scavengers, bums, beggars,
petty gamblers, drink and do drugs, hold-uppers, petty
crime, violent at early ages, disrespectful to parents and
girls, fighting, runaways, live in the streets and die young.
Out-of-school hang around all day with gangs/fraternities.
Engrossed in boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, teen-age
sex, boys get girls pregnant young and become fathers/
mothers very young. Enjoy being in crowds in a wild
environment, war/violence freaks, love to experiment and
try out new things.

18.  Strong commitment to helping their parents earn. Taken for
granted by parents, exposed to dangerous environment—vices,
crime. Some are involved in church activities, have direction in
life and God in their hearts, but others have lost their fear of God.
They are unguided, lost, and see little hope for the future. Work at
an early age, exploited by some parents.
 On positive self-assessments, they earn for and are close to their
family. Many are kind, respectful, dependable in time of need. As
the hope of the fatherland (national hero Jose Rizal’s statement),
they should be saved from drugs and worries and enjoy life.
Since they love to explore, experiment, and seek adventure, they
should be free. They should be able to eat at least once or twice a
day. They should not be working but going to school. Both boys
and girls should aim to bring progress to Baseco, strive for their
own betterment, and have dreams as future leaders.

19.  About 20% of boys and 40% of girls in Baseco are “good.”
They don’t do drugs, smoke, or engage in sex. They get
proper attention from parents, maintain their dreams and
aspirations, and choose the right kinds of friends. Some are
God-fearing, but many, not. Some wander aimless about
because they’re hungry and can’t even think anymore.
 Girls are critical of their peers, but say boys raise more
problems than girls: about 80% of boys behave badly, and
about 60% of girls. Girls want to avoid the fate of poor
women like their mothers who work as domestic helpers or
are plain housewives with no significant earnings. They
hope to avoid becoming pregnant through premarital sex.

20.  In-school girls emphasize closeness to family and to God;
importance of schooling, studying seriously and being
respectful of parents; out-of-school girls are more resentful
of their situation, which they blame largely on parents too
poor to send them to school. Youth are the future of the
country, people you can rely on; but some destroy that
hope by not taking their studies seriously. Youth remain the
hope of their parents who did not get much schooling and
have been hard up most of their lives. By studying and
finishing school (preferably college), the youth can help
their parents by getting good jobs and supporting the
family.

21.  Yet many do drugs, drop out of school, cut classes, are
undisciplined, hang around especially at the playground
where they make trouble; into sex, rugby, marijuana,
cigarettes, drinking and computer games if they can afford
it; have babies when still young but still go out for fun as
though they weren’t parents. The dropouts don’t work or
respect their elders, criticizing them, demanding money for
glue sniffing and other vices, and yelling at their parents
when they can’t get money; corresponding beatings from
father and slaps from mother. They work selling fish,
vegetables, etc. when they shouldn’t be working but
studying. But where there’s life, there’s hope. They are at
an age where they know the difference between right and
wrong.

22.  Out-of-school boys are more critical of their parents than in-school
boys.
 Out-of-school: critical of family but committed to serve it
nonetheless. Youth say they join gangs and fraternities and behave
disrespectfully even belligerently at home because of parents who
generate conflicts within the family—domestic violence,
exploitation, and giving bad examples (especially the father) by not
carrying out their duties and obligations. Although youth are willing
to help the family by working while also earning their own schooling
expenses, some parents exploit them by making them do most of
the work and take on responsibilities that are too difficult or
demanding at their age. Nonetheless, virtually all express concern
for their parents whom they see suffering, calling for them to help
out. Parental absence brings misery to a child’s life. Parents should
be there to guide and take care of them and in return bring out their
children’s respect, honor and help. Youth resent not experiencing a
genuinely nurturing family life.

23.  In-school: more positive, less critical of family
Importance of family stems from its nurturing and
taking care of youth; in return, the latter should take
care of parents in old age. Family is a haven: a place
where youth can voice out problems and feel relief.
It renders a sense of completeness, identity, unity,
and harmony. Without a family, life is sorrowful. It is
a source of inspiration and hope in the midst of
poverty; offers love, cooperation; helps achieve
one’s dreams and inspires children to work harder
and avoid vices. It is undermined by conflict and
criminal activities. It should be intact; a broken
family is no longer a family.

24.  Family is central to adolescent wellbeing. Family and
parents are the most important persons in their lives.
Children need to help parents especially the mother by
earning; better if can get a high-paying job, possibly if
finish college. Parents too often restrict girls; dislike
their going out with friends. Sometimes parents/
fathers punish them by hitting them or forbid their
going out, but they recognize that guidance and
discipline are parental roles. Youth object when
punishment too severe.

25.  Out-of-school: They do menial jobs whose
earnings are turned over to the family except for a
portion left for their own use (food) and personal
use (drugs, cigarettes). Working is seen as a
natural part of their role as a household member
since their parents are clearly unable to provide
for their family. Helping out gives them a sense of
self-worth and happiness. But they resent having
to drop out of school to work fulltime at a young
age.

26.  In-school: Working while studying, to support the family, is
often resented but is a must despite sometimes hazardous
working conditions, e.g., one young worker who dives in the
sea in search of scrap metals recoils at having to contend
with human feces every time he surfaces. At night his fear
intensifies for fear of a shark attack. Nonetheless, he cannot
stop as he needs to earn. Since he gets little sleep at night,
he feels sleepy in school which affects his learning and
grades. Most work during their free time after school,
mainly on weekends. This becomes even more imperative if
the father is dead or has disappeared, and the mother is
getting old and less able to earn.

27.  Out-of-school girls have low opinions of
themselves. They believe they can become only
domestic helpers or nannies or stay-at-home
helpers of their mothers. Or later they can become
bar girls/Guest Relations Officers, which can also
mean moving into commercial sex work. Most try
to earn by collecting shellfish to eat or sell in the
community; others become pickpockets or
snatchers (cell phones, wallets)

28.  All have a high regard for education as a means to a good life and
a stepping stone to that future. It means being able to afford
decent meals everyday and provide for the family, in particular
their suffering parents. For a few it brings knowledge that will last
forever. Most of those who drop out of school do so owing to
poverty as well as the influence of their peers. Engaging in vices
and cutting class are common activities while in school. They
envy their friends who have continued schooling, leaving them
behind. Some, however, give little value to education, saying that
even if one were to finish high school, he still could not land a
good job. Hence, if he cannot complete college—and few in
Baseco actually do—male students figure that there is little lost in
dropping out much earlier and working fulltime instead. Being
able to read and write is enough under the circumstances.

29.  Important as a means to help parents and the family more
than personal advancement or knowledge; education
means they will not be poor, discriminated against or
looked down on; brings respect and honor; enables them to
deal confidently with higher class people.
 Family financial problems prevent them from continuing
their education; can’t afford transportation or expenses for
projects; teachers throw them out of class for failing to
submit projects (often requiring use of commercial
computer kiosks); so students just cut class if they’re
unprepared. Out-of-school girls are more likely to get into
vices and pregnant since they just hang around.

30.  “Village”: new life of dignity, not “squatters” anymore;
place is better-looking; improved housing and paved streets
 “Squatter” area still smells, dirty with feces all over, smell
of the place sticks to people’s bodies. Dances being held
are good but often lead to trouble afterwards. Violence has
also increased in the new playground with rumbles and
crime since youth congregate there as a place for
fraternities to flourish and exert their presence. Adults are
critical but do little beyond scolding them; local official take
punitive action. Youth only recognized are good when they
do community clean-ups, sports festivals, hold dances.

31.  Those in the “Village” with better houses in neater
settings feel a sense of pride. Outsiders don’t look
down on us anymore.
 “Squatter” area still in disarray. But people remain
poor in both areas. Some girls scavenge in Divisoria
market nearby. Chronic hunger means always
having to search for food; lack of water means rare
baths, which makes other shun you. The playground
construction has given young people a chance to
congregate, often for bad reasons. As it is dark at
night, sex, drugs, and violence prevail.

33.  Boys: Greater expectation that boys should earn
for the household, but working is often not
compatible with school requirements.
 Girls: Girls’ roles fulfilled if they do household
chores and help mother’s small business
enterprise, so they have more leeway to remain in
school.

34.  Boys: Active-aggressive qualities expected of boys
encourage them to join neighborhood gangs or fraternities
which become central to their world and their identity more
than school; fits in with socialization of boys as roaming
more freely, negotiating alliances and working our
relationships with girls.
 Girls: Expected home-based settings of girls limit their
activities in the neighborhood; hence, their insistence at
being outside with their friends (girls and boys) is a
constant source of contention with their parents.
Negotiating relationships with boys is a recurring theme—
experimenting with sex but fear of pregnancy.

35.  Global competitiveness is moving major cities
heavily into service sector economies—hotels,
restaurants, resorts, transport, tourism, spas,
beauty parlors, malls, nightclubs, banking,
insurance, etc. In addition, nursing and care giving
open up work opportunities abroad, especially for
women. These job openings require persons with
good managerial skills, organization and planning
ability involving attention to detail, financial
discipline, and multitasking—all qualities associated
with traditional Filipino female upbringing.

36.  Baseco adolescent girls have learned these basic traits
from their mothers, who serve as role models in household
management and survival, often through small-scale
trading and more recently, micro-enterprises through credit
programs. These traits have now been internalized in the
global business economy and government. Women have
moved heavily into these domains. Baseco girls see these
young women role models on TV and through their
schooling. They are more motivated than their male peers
to take school seriously. Graduating from college or getting
as close to it as possible is the ideal for which they strive.
Teen-aged (single or married) mothers recognize that this
will be their life, which will relive the life of their mother in a
poverty-stricken family.

37.  Baseco boys internalize the traditional value than men
should be the major earner and breadwinner in the family.
But since they see limited evidence of that in their own
lives, judging from the male role models in society, they
realize how few options there are for men in the formal
economy. Although men’s skills are best utilized in
government jobs with strong political leanings, the better
jobs embody civil service qualifications; those applying for
low-skilled jobs as watchmen and janitors require “pull” to
be selected. Drug-related and criminal gangs offer growing
options for low-skilled, low-education young men. Although
many adolescent boys persevere in school, peer pressures
and societal forces enter in to decrease the morale of many
about pursuing their studies.

39.  While gender roles in the sense of power relations
between men and women / boys and girls continue to
follow traditional courses in family relations of male
authority (VAW), changes in the larger economic world
are giving women and therefore girls more options and
aspirations to move into the formal work environment
with its higher earning possibilities. This continuity
affects the motivation and self-esteem of both boys and
girls, with Baseco girls showing greater optimism about
and determination to stay in school, while boys are more
easily discouraged, distracted and drop out, lured by
their peers into gang and drug activities. Eventually, they
move full-time into the earning-for-the-family imperative

40.  There is need for:
 Practical skills training courses in high school
and job placement programs that will enable
boys especially but also girls to earn while going
to school; ICT training opens up many new
possibilities.
 Expanded scholarship programs for poor
adolescent boys and girls to finish high school
and gain skills that will enable them to work and
maintain the option of going to college.

41.  There is need for:
 Government-Community-School programs that
sustain the girls’ motivation to persevere in
school as well as generate rescue strategies for
boys (skills, income, values) to prevent their
dropping out and not having to rely on gangs to
establish their identity and self-esteem.
 Addressing poverty, secure tenure and housing
issues, earning capacities and opportunities for
parents so that they can provide continuing
support to their children’s education.

43. Photo credits
The authors wish to acknowledge, with gratitude, the sources of the ff. Baseco
photographs. They are not for reproduction, publication, or web posting without
the photographers’ and website developers’ consent. Copyright belongs to them.
Don Sevilla. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsevilla/202648554/
Troyski d true. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/troyski/272642693/
Mio Cade. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramdiboy/3992494575/
troyski d true. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/troyski/272665690/
C.B. Foster. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggie_gurl77_berroya/205633949/
J. De Vera. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/12176572@N08/1228598151/
Don Sevilla. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsevilla/201945876/
Don Sevilla. From http://www.filipinasoul.com/files/2008/10/baseco-store-flickr-donsevilla.jpg
Mitz Lanuza. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitzlanuza/202685922/

44. Photo credits
The authors wish to acknowledge, with gratitude, the sources of the ff. Baseco
photographs. They are not for reproduction, publication, or web posting without
the photographers’ and website developers’ consent. Copyright belongs to them.
BBC UK. From http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41093000/jpg/_41093356_baseco203.jpg
Habitat for Humanity RP. From http://www.habitat.org.ph/userfiles/image/cms/sf4.jpg
Bulatlat. From http://www.bulatlat.com/main/uploads/slideshow/2010/01/baseco/400_300/
baseco_fire12..jpg
Mio Cade. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramdiboy/3059010828/
Webzer. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/webzer/201711476/
Troyski d true. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/troyski/271219619/
Don Sevilla. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsevilla/202648551/
*eMoslck's. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/emosick/3737220031/
Don Sevilla. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsevilla/202024199
JMWR. From http://www.flickr.com/photos/8648572@N08/522848630/