Man standing on a colourful basketball court with players in the background.
Man standing on a colourful basketball court with players in the background.
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World

The people fighting to live on the most famous basketball court in Asia

It's one of the most recognisable basketball courts in the world thanks to a mural of Kobe Bryant, but a crisis at the housing block that surrounds it in the Philippines could force around 3,000 people out of their homes.

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Updated

By Aaron Fernandes
Source: SBS News
Image: Carlo Belvis was born and raised at Tenement. (SBS News / Aaron Fernandes)
Key Points
  • The Fort Bonifacio Tenement building in Manila has been deemed unsafe, but residents have nowhere else to go.
  • When US basketball star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January 2020, local artists transformed the court into a memorial.
For Carlo Belvis, a basketball court is literally the centre of his world. The 26-year-old calls the Fort Bonifacio Tenement in Manila his home, which is a public housing block surrounding perhaps the most famous basketball court in Asia.

At all hours of the day, residents gather on the balconies of the seven-storey complex to watch the action below.

"Basketball gives happiness. You forget all your problems when you play basketball. You can show all your emotions - that's why I love the game," Carlo says.
Aerial shot of the Tenement court.
Basketball is played at all hours of the day at the Tenement court. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
The housing block, known to locals simply as "Tenement", is like a scene from a movie. Gas-top cookers roast skewered meats on the balconies. There are no elevators so people use motorcycles to race up and down ramps to reach the top floors.

The building’s soundtrack is a mixture of thumping basketballs and karaoke blasting out of personal stereos at high volume. Life in the area can be hard, with the constant noise and activity being a welcome distraction.

"There are a lot of temptations. There are some people here using drugs, not doing good things," Carlo says. "Living here is like a big family. You just have to respect each other."
Like football in Brazil, basketball has a near-religious following in the Philippines.
When US basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash
in January 2020, local artists transformed the court into a memorial that went viral around the world.

The viral tribute added to Tenement’s credibility as an icon of global basketball.

US basketball player Lebron James’ handprints are oriented in the walls of the court, when he visited Tenement as part of a Nike tour in 2015.

Every other day, international travellers wander into Tenement on pilgrimages to see the hallowed court.
Living here is like a big family. You just have to respect each other.
Carlo Belvis
"I've known about Tenement for years and said to myself, if I ever visit the Philippines, I have to go there," says Jeremy Lubsey, a 34-year-old traveller from Maryland in the United States.

"This is special. It's all about the story of this court and this complex. It's all about the people, you can see their passion on display when the game is being played."
Close-up shot of a man wearing a pink shirt.
Jeremy Lubsey visited the court while on holiday from the USA. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
Today, the iconic painting of Bryant is gone. During COVID-19, residents lost jobs and struggled to find work. The famous court was sold to commercial businesses as advertising space. But to preserve the memory and honour their idol, local artists from the Tenement Visual Artists group painted a replica onto a large canvas, which is kept hidden away at Tenement.

"It's a replica. All people if they want to see, they can see it here. This is treasured by the tenement," says Cris Paccial from Tenement Visual Artists.
A canvas replica of the famous Kobe Bryant mural.
A canvas replica of the famous Kobe Bryant mural. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
But Tenement's viral fame hasn’t solved a housing crisis looming over the court and approximately 3,000 residents that live in the building. In 2010, local authorities declared the housing project unsafe and vulnerable to natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes.

Tenants were issued eviction notices and a small number accepted an offer by the government to resettle elsewhere. Starting in 2015, a total of 57 out of 712 families relocated, with financial assistance provided by the local government of Taguig. But the majority of residents refused to leave.
It's all about the people, you can see their passion on display when the game is being played.
Jeremy Lubsey
Jennifer Corpin is the president of the Tenement Home Owners Association, a community group that represents residents of Tenement.

"There's a lot of history in this building," she says.

"From before until now, we’re continuously making noise locally and internationally. It's the only way for us to be preserved."
Woman standing in front of vacant shopfronts.
Jennifer Corpin runs an association that represents the building residents. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
Today, the eviction notices have stopped but the building still hasn’t been made safe. Huge cracks can be seen in the walls and the upper levels have no water. Residents haul buckets to the top to drink and bathe.

SBS News understands the Philippines National Housing Authority says it still plans to relocate the residents, but for years, nothing has been done.

The residents, their broken building and beloved basketball court have largely been forgotten.
Residents outside of their apartment buildings cooking food.
Life at Tenement spills out of the apartments onto the balconies. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
"The residents still want to stay, but of course, we don't know the integrity of the building," Ms Corpin says.

"Of course, we understand that we can't stay here, but we need to know what are their plans. We are not illegal settlers, they cannot just throw us anywhere they want."

Ms Corpin says residents know that if the building could collapse, they can’t stay there. But the fundamental problem is a housing shortage in metropolitan Manila.
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"The majority of the residents in Tenement work within the area, in Makati, in the nearby city of Taguig, and most of the students study here in Taguig," she says.

"So the problem with the National Housing Authority is that they don't have a property within the city where we can be transferred or relocated."
Aerial view of the Tenement basketball court and housing building.
The Tenement buidling was condemned as unsafe in 2010. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
SBS News sent questions to the Philippines National Housing Authority about the future of Tenement and its residents, but did not receive a response.

A public statement from the NHA released in March 2018 said the organisation has taken action to ensure the safety of the occupants by offering them options for relocation to NHA resettlement projects.

"Although met with resistance in Fort Bonifacio Tenement, NHA has set up a Relocation Action Center there in May 2014 to accommodate the applications for relocation and resettlement," the statement reads.
Man wearing a basketball jersey and has a basketball in hand.
All generations play basketball at Tenement. Source: SBS News / Aaron Fernandes
Ms Corpin says residents are willing to relocate if a resettlement option could be found nearby. But they want to know where they will be relocated to and whether any of the heritage and history can be preserved.

"When you say Tenement, people will always say: 'Oh Tenement, the famous court is there'. We worked hard to be known. If not in our building, at least in our famous court. Maybe they want to consider those things, for us to be preserved."
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