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Pilar Tan - The Philippine Star
April 12, 2026 | 12:00am
Volunteers help in Project ONE, a community-led environmental restoration effort in Sitio Anahaw.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — At the edge of Laguna de Bay stands Sitio Anahaw — a community many would rather not see.
Houses made of bamboo rise above water thick with years of accumulated waste. The lake itself is no longer visible, buried beneath layers of garbage. Toxic fumes quietly rise from below the stilted homes, affecting lungs, immune systems and the fragile health of children who grow up knowing no other environment.
To some, it is a place to avoid. To others, it is someone else’s problem.
But for me, Sitio Anahaw became personal.
A year ago, I visited the home of a woman who lives there. What I saw was unlike anything I had encountered before. The poverty was stark, but what struck me more was the quiet dignity of families doing their best to survive in conditions no one should endure.
It would have been easy to say, “Let the government fix it.”
Or, “Let the residents solve it themselves.”
Instead, I asked a simpler question:
Why don’t we all begin?
When I was entrusted by PAREF Woodrose School to lead an outreach initiative, Sitio Anahaw became the focus. What followed was not a solo effort, but a collective awakening — Project ONE.
Support slowly grew.
What began as concern turned into coordinated action.
Saturday clean-ups gather around 100 volunteers at a time — students from the University of Asia and the Pacific, Woodrose volunteers, high school students from San Roque, private citizens and members of the barangay environmental team.
One hundred people. One shoreline. One shared responsibility.
But Project ONE is not merely about removing trash.
It is about restoring dignity. It is about reminding families that they are not forgotten. It is about teaching children that their environment can change — and so can their future.
Sitio Anahaw may not look beautiful at first glance.
But when you look beyond the garbage, beyond the statistics, beyond the stigma — you will see something stronger than poverty.
You will see hope.
And hope, when acted upon together, can transform even the most neglected places.
