filomena cinco, nicknamed ka mena, lives here in a 21-square-meter flood-proof flat. her old home was just four square meters s in size. the move has changed her life. filomena: now that we're living here, i feel that i am now a homeowner, so that's the difference. the human dignity was back, becacause we live in a decent ut now. reporter: right next door, people still live the way ka mena used to. there's a sewage canal close by. when it grows clogged with garbage, it overflows, something that happens several times a year. the residents in ka mena's building are working off part of the cost of their new apartments. every week, they make sure the waste canal is free of detritus that could block it. she remembers well how frightening the floods could be. filomena: one of our worries then was, what if the floor of our houses will collapse because of the flooding. there is no peace of mind at all during those days. reporter: around a third of manila's 12 million inhabitants live in informal settlements. they're the ones most at risk when the water rises due to tropical st