Photos Of A Woman Crawling Out Of Drain Reveals An Entire Community Living In The Cracks
The man, who took the photos, says she ran toward him before being chased off by a military officer.
By Sadho Ram — 30 May 2025, 06:15 PM
On 27 May, a photographer was walking home from the gym, camera in hand, when he witnessed something that stopped him in his tracks
At the corner of a street in Makati in the Philippines, a human head emerged from a street drain.
"I froze," the photographer, William Roberts, wrote in an Instagram post that has since gone viral.
"Instinct kicked in. I started snapping photos — couldn't believe my eyes. But then, she started running — towards me. For a second, I tensed, ready to defend myself if needed," he wrote.
As William braced for the unknown, a nearby officer shouted, "Wag!", Tagalog for "don't".
When William stood down, the woman ran past him, with the officer in pursuit. Around them, pedestrians and motorists watched, stunned.
"It was one of those moments that stays with you," William said.
"A reminder that Makati's streets hold more stories than we sometimes care to see — and that behind the high rises and the hustle, there are people who live between the cracks. Literally," he added.
The next day, William returned to the same spot and found the authorities sealing up the crack the woman had crawled out of
Units from the Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA), the Makati Public Safety Department (MAPSA), and others were onsite, working quickly to weld a metal cover over the opening.
He was allowed to document some of it, apparently due to his photo going viral.
"They weren't allowing photos or videos," he wrote, adding, "They admitted something chilling: they don't know where the pipes inside the kanal (ditch) lead to. They called the pipe a huge 'culvert'".
He asked about rumours of a similar situation near Makati Medical Center. Officials acknowledged it but claimed it was unrelated — a different site known for housing informal settlers.
"It feels like a metaphor," William wrote.
"The government might move fast to cover the mess, but are they actually cleaning it?"
After being told by a source that no drugs were involved, he considered the matter closed until a comment changed everything
As shared by William in a Reddit post, someone commented: "Saw the same person from the kanal earlier today near Pio Del Pilar, wearing different clothes. Why is she roaming free if there was an investigation?"
He said that the question lingered in his head.
"The kanal wasn't just a hole in the street anymore — it was a crack in the story, and I couldn't stop thinking about what was hiding beneath. I tried to let it go.
"Fed the pets. Cleaned up. Tried to talk myself out of it: 'What else is there to capture?' Maybe I should leave the rest to the 'real' journalists. But that comment kept buzzing in my mind like static," he wrote.
So he went back out, armed with his camera, a notebook, and a gut feeling that the story wasn't over.
What he found was far deeper than a viral photo or an Internet mystery
Wandering the streets around Makati Med, he eventually made his way to a creek flanked by culverts and tucked between institutions meant to represent safety and health, on one side, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation; on the other, Makati Medical Center.
There, by chance, he spotted a foot. Then, a hand, followed by a man cautiously climbing out of a drainage pipe. William snapped a few photos, then started walking away, flooded by panic.
But he stopped, turned back, and approached the man, whose name was Jerwin.
William introduced himself as the photographer behind the viral image, but instead of reacting with anger, Jerwin simply smiled and greeted, "Salamat po".
According to William, Jerwin wasn't alone for long. Another man, Rommel, emerged from the culvert. And slowly, a fuller picture of life beneath the city streets began to form.
They called their stretch of the creek the Botanical Garden, their name for a community of around 15 people living in the shadows of Makati's gleaming towers. The group consisted of Jerwin, Rommel, Jerome, BB, Bekbek, Aki, Jane, Lester, Arnold, Buko, Namnam, and a few others who were still finding their way.
Most were displaced from other informal settlements, evicted by city development projects. They now live in the margins, hiding in culverts during the day to escape the sun, or the police.
When William asked about BB, the woman who emerged from the drain in the original photo, Jerwin confirmed she was his partner
"That day, 26 May, she was just resting, trying to escape the heat when the sound of traffic woke her. It was around 5pm, time for the group to come together and eat. She didn't want to miss whatever scraps they'd managed to gather for the day. So, she crawled out of the kanal, just like that.
"No master plan. No escape plot. Just a woman trying to get back to her community, her belongings, her life — in the creek they call home," William wrote.
"They don't live in the canals. They hide in them. From the sun. From the police. Sometimes to stash what little they have. Sometimes to keep each other safe," he added.
"Just because someone's living in the margins doesn't mean they aren't trying to live," he said.
Following the viral photo, police in Makati confirmed they inspected the drain and recovered cloth and steel materials from inside
They identified the woman as a street dweller known to frequent the area behind Makati Med.
In a report by Manila Bulletin, the police stated that they coordinated with MACEA and "immediately checked that canal and installed a metal cover over the opening to avoid the same incident".
Meanwhile, the Makati Public Safety Department has been instructed to monitor the area more closely.
Meanwhile, William noted that this isn't a story about drugs or crime or even poverty porn. It's a story about people, a community, he said.
