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Poverty lured her to a death zone named ULTRA
Posted February 26, 2006 by Josua L. Jaena �Nagbabakasali lang ako manalo.� Betty Estimar came all the way from Caloocan City, skipping out a day of her work as housemaid. It turned out it will take days for her to even get nearer the narrow gates of ULTRA, then go home empty handed.  �Kahirapan po ang nagtulak sa akin na makipagsapalaran dito sa Maynila,� she recalls. �Matagal na ako rito sa Maynila pero wala pa rin naipon, nagkakautang pa,� Betty complains, her accent reveals she came from a Hiligaynon speaking region. �Mabuti pa sa Bacolod, kahit walang pera nakakakain kami na di baon sa utang.� Betty Estimar is just one among those thousands of hopefuls that thronged ULTRA in Pasig City even days before the fateful day of February 4, expecting to win tens of thousands of Pesos given away for the one year anniversary of the ABS-CBN game show �Wowowee� hosted by Willie Revillame. An inquiry later said ABS-CBN failed to secure the event for about 30,000 people who showed up � far beyond the stadium�s capacity of about 19,000. The report said that many of the survivors interviewed by the task force indicated that the stampede broke out when Mel Feliciano, the show�s associate producer, announced that tickets would be distributed to 300 of the thousands waiting outside ULTRA�s gate. He further excited the crowd by saying that these 300 people would have the chance to win prizes ranging from P10,000 to P50,000,� the report said. �Nasa likuran ako malapit sa shed na bumagsak ng magkaroon ng tulakan,� Betty narrates. �Hindi ako makahinga sa siksikan kaya lumabas ako sa magulong pila.� Minutes after she moved out of the crowed she said she could hear yelling and shouting and the crowd fronting the gate started to push forward. It was around six in the morning, and she feared that her employer was already looking for her so she decided to leave the ULTRA vicinity. �Imposibleng makapasok na rin ako sa dami ng tao,� she said in resignation. Betty walked through the road lined by motels until she reached Shaw Boulevard where she boarded a jeepney going to MRT. By the time she reached home in Caloocan, news were already circulating that people died from the place where she came from. �Sa takot ko na mapagalitan ni ma�am di ko na sinabi kung saan ako nanggaling,� Betty confessed. �Ni hindi ko nga nakita is Willie (Revillame) doon.� Meanwhile, a non-government organization Black and White Movement said that the incident last February 4 could be blamed on ABS-CBN or to the 30,000 to 50,000 people who waited outside the PhilSports Arena (formerly Ultra) with the hope of winning the 2.5 million worth of prizes. The group is convinced that most of the people who crowded there came from the depressed areas in Metro Manila and other provinces and have meager or no other source of income. �Their poverty left them no other choice but to gamble their chances on game shows and raffle draws,� Bencyrus Ellorin, the group�s co-convenor said. Ellorin said the incident �fermented due to the degrading economic condition of our country.� |
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood. In Mexico, the Philippines and other Latin American countries, barrios are generally cohesive places: sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days. 
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