It has been 20 years since the 111 families living in the Del Rosario Compound at Barangay Coloong, Valenzuela City, last saw the ground where their houses stand. Rising sea levels and several reclamations and mega dike projects have turned this low-lying community into a catch basin, with farmlands now a swirling Waterworld, said Rommel Laxamana, who lives in the compound. It doesn’t help that Coloong sits near Manila Bay and is surrounded by three rivers that cut through Valenzuela City and Bulacan province. But with fishing opportunities and other jobs nearby, people chose to stay in the compound and adapt to their peculiar, yet hazardous, way of life.

Enano, J. O. (2018, July 8). 'Waterworld' folk tap solar power for the clean drink. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A4.