PALAWAN, Philippines – Shan Christian Cabanillas usually begins his day by collecting water.
For a fourth-year engineering student, Cabanillas’ mornings are unlike those of many of his classmates. Instead of waking up in a permanent home, he prepares for school inside a temporary shelter near the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Barangay San Pedro, where his family has lived for almost a year and a half.
Before leaving for class, the 21-year-old helps buy supplies for their small store, feeds their dogs, and lines up for water from the communal faucet. Only after finishing these chores does he begin his trip to Palawan State University.
This has become Cabanillas’ normal routine, day in and day out. But it was not supposed to be like this.
A night that changed everything
