In pictures: An economy in crisis

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The people protest

In one of the world's most spectacular examples of "people power", 20 years ago Filipinos took to the streets to protest against the rule of President Ferdinand Marcos and to restore democracy.

In 1986 hopes were high that their lives would be transformed and they would live in peace and prosperity. But today, there are still rallies in Manila, and the protests are still about poverty, corruption and nepotism.

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Manila: Chaos in colour

The capital, Manila, is vast, hot and noisy. Cars, scooters, taxis and these colourful buses called "jeepnies" choke the streets.

In this rapidly growing city, 10 million people live in Manila's towns, villages and shanties. The Philippine population is expanding fast, the fastest in South-East Asia.

That also means poverty is growing. The top 10% of the population owns most of the wealth. Once the Philippines was one of the wealthiest countries in South-East Asia. No longer.

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Life on the streets

Forty per cent of Filipinos live below the poverty line, meaning that about 30 million people cope on $1 a day or less: the poverty benchmark for the United Nations.

Unemployment is high, and up to 3,000 Filipinos a day leave to work abroad. They send money home to their families to help them survive.

President Gloria Arroyo is taking steps to improve the economy and to restore business confidence. But foreign investors are put off by the country's political instability.

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Soup kitchens

Three times a day, every day, the poor of Manila queue at the soup kitchen on the famous Plaza Miranda. Hundreds of men, women and children receive a hot rice porridge.

They are often scavengers, living off their pickings from Manilas vast rubbish heaps. This might be the only meal they eat today.

But increasingly, the organisers of the soup kitchen notice that some "middle-class" people are queuing for food.

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Poverty is spreading

Rex San Diego is 36 years old. He and his wife are teachers. They have two young daughters. Their combined take-home pay is $279 (£160) a month, way below what they need to survive.

They have also started to cut down on food, and now eat more carbohydrates and fast food: cheaper but less nutritious.

Average incomes have fallen by about 10% in three years. Rex has not had a pay rise in five years.

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Women hit the hardest

In the shanty towns of Manila thousands and thousands of urban poor are stuffed into makeshift shacks. Many of them came to the capital from the countryside looking for work. But this is where you find some of the worst poverty and unemployment of all.

Lina runs a market stall where she sells trinkets. She might make 90 pesos a day, almost $2. On this she has to feed her family of three daughters.

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Lina and her friends

Women in the Philippines are known to be strong and independent. They are often the ones who hold the purse strings and feed the family like Lina and her friends.

Josefina (in blue) has had to give away one of her children for adoption as she can't afford to keep her. Other women tell the same story. Their husbands work part time, if at all. The stress on women is great - especially as there is little government money to help.

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Scenes from a mall

It is not just in the shanty towns and soup kitchens of Manila where you can guess at the state of the economy but in the shopping malls.

Filipinos - whatever their income - are addicted to malls, even if they only hang out there to enjoy the air-conditioning and the bright lights.

This was the first country in South-East Asia to build big American-style malls and there are now 80 across the country, 30 in Manila alone.

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One-stop shop

Filipino malls are a one-stop, self-sufficient retail and entertainment centre.

Not only can you eat, drink and buy your shoes there, you can go to the doctor or apply for immigration, go to an art gallery or the gym, or the mall church.

As the city outside is often hot, polluted and crime-ridden, here people feel protected. There are security guards everywhere. In 2000, when there were two bomb attacks in a mall, people kept on shopping.

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Retail analysis

Consumer spending in the Philippines accounts for 70% of the GDP. Top retail analyst Frances Yu says that means the economy is dependent on people spending. But they have less to spend.

The Philippines does not have a good manufacturing base, she says, and is not keeping up with growth in the region.

The big economies of China and India are leaping ahead. In spite of negative warnings, the mall operators continue to build new outlets. But Frances predicts "the bubble will burst".

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People power fatigue

On the anniversary of people power, Filipinos may feel they need another revolution, one that turns their economy around, ends poverty and corruption, soup kitchens, shanty towns and children scavenging in bins.

But many say they no longer have the energy to go out and demonstrate, despite the tribute to what can be achieved when they do.