Street Wiring

Technology has a definitive signature in Metro Manila—a signature strung aloft in a rather cursive style, using wires, power lines, and communication cables as the medium. As you drive or walk the narrow side streets, you cannot help but notice the dark and often disordered web of wires and cables strung overhead only a few feet above the streets and sidewalks.

I suspect a number of the wires and cables are presently (and have long been) out of service. Even at Desiree’s house, several cables have been abandoned and left at dead ends, the result of her switching internet service providers and ceasing to use her landline for phone service.

All this said, as an electrician, I find a weird charm in the messy display of wires. The wires and cables offer distinct proof of efforts made by an assortment of technicians over the years.

I have shared three photographs I captured as we whisked along the street in a Grab ride. These photographs by no means capture the wildest displays of cables and wires, but they give you some idea of the web created aloft.

Wires and Cables Along the Street

—Mitchell Hegman