The area has a bad reputation and many problems such as the sheer number living in the cramped conditions and tiny streets, drug dealing, illegal gambling, broken families and rife corruption.
For example, in the evenings individuals enter into the area of Pasil to buy drugs. Whilst 'high' the drug takers then partake in illegal gambling on the multiple computers present in the streets. Children as young as nine are being used as drug runners and are paid 10 to 20 Pesos. They are often encouraged in this work by their parents. Although everyone in Pasil is aware of the identity of the drug dealers (their houses are usually the biggest) they are often not apprehended as corruption is rife. The drug dealers have bribed the local police and officials. It is not only the drug dealers themselves who benefit from this drug culture but also others in Pasil; with more people entering the area every night there are more people to buy food from the local stalls. It is easy to see why people are tempted into becoming drug dealers or drug runners.
Opportunities in Pasil are limited and it is hard to make a living. You often see women sat on the street with leaves in their hands making puso (little baskets/containers which hold rice). For every 100 puso that is made the women only receive 5 Peso. Although the women are extremely quick at making these baskets it is still insufficient income to support a large family, especially if only one parent is working or the family is a single parent family.
The Don Bosco Center offers the youth a better future through the scholarships they offer so more children can graduate from high school and college and therefore gain a better job. They also offer the trainees a vocational job rather than being unemployed once leaving school. Finallly, the youth center gives the youth some where to go in the evening rather than becoming involved in any illegal dealings that are happening in the streets around them.
People in Pasil are proud of the Don Bosco Center and the hope and opportunities it offers to the young people of Pasil.
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| Sea at the edge of Pasil |
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| The power station next to Pasil |
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| Rubbish dumped in the sea |
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| Children playing in the sea |
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| Some of the houses of Pasil |
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