A meat vendor counts money at a public market in Marikina, Philippines on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

A dog named Luna wears a dracula costume during a Halloween pet party at a mall in Valenzuela city, Philippines on Saturday, October 19, 2024. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

An iguana rests on a man's head during a pet blessing ceremony a day after World Animal Day, at a mall in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 5, 2025. (Photo by Noel Celis/Reuters)

Typhoon Yolanda – also known as Haiyan – struck the central part of the country November 8, 2013, leaving at least 6,300 people dead and over four million displaced. A month after Typhoon Haiyan, the United Nations Population Fund estimates that 5,000 women were subjected to sеxual violence. A study by the Health and Human Rights online publication shows the majority of young girls and women in Manila’s sеx industry come from poverty-stricken areas – such as Leyte, Samar, Cebu and southern Mindanao – and enter trafficking through force, deception, economic desperation and psychological manipulation. (Photo by Hannah Reyes Morales/The Washington Post)

A gun is seen next to the body of a man was killed in a shootout with police in Manila, Philippines early October 21, 2016. According to the police, sachets containing substance believed to be drug shabu (Methamphetamine Hydrochloride) were found in the killed man's pockets. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Boys play with a drainage culvert used for flood control in Las Pinas, Metro Manila February 28, 2016. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A Filipino fan lines up for the One Direction concert Saturday, March 21, 2015 in the suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. One Direction's “On the Road Again” tour will continue with upcoming performances in Manila, Philippines, and Jakarta, Indonesia, despite the absence of one of its members Zayn Malik, who flew back to London due to “stress”. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

Filipino mermaid swimming teacher Genevieve Reyes (C) has her tail adjusted by students during a lesson by the Philippines Mermaid Swimming Academy in a private swimming pool in Makati, Manila, Philippines, 15 June 2013. The Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy (PMSA) was created in 2012 in Boracay by Normeth Preglo of The Philippines and US swimming instructor Djuna Rocha. The swimming lessons were brought to Manila in April 2013. The price for a two-hour class is 37 US dollars. (Photo by Dennis M. Sabangan/EPA)