Scratch the surface and some 45 million of Estillore's 76 million countrymen probably have a similar story to tell.

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Consider the case of Rey Estillore, 60, who taught biological science at Manila's University of the East for 20 years.

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In the meantime, Estillore tries to scrape out a living in the printing business, with 1960-era presses that can't compete with more modern machinery.

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In 1993, one month after Estillore moved in to the simple home he'd built in Veteran's Village, a longtime squatter zone in Quezon City set aside for families of those who fought in World War II, a woman showed up claiming she owned his lot.

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