In preparation for the 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippine government decided to hide the country’s poverty by erecting a makeshift, temporary wall on a road from the airport to downtown Manila so that delegates wouldn’t see the sprawling slum along a garbage-strewn creek.
Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang defended the wall’s installation, saying Thursday “any country will do a little fixing up before a guest comes.”
The theme of the conference is “Inclusive Growth Through Better Governance and Partnerships.”

