A real-life Ninja Turtle sparked alarm when she emerged from a sewer where she has been living.

Shocking photos show the unkempt feral woman in raggedy clothes climbing out of a storm drain in the affluent Makati central business district in Manila, the Philippines.

With a seemingly manic smile on her face, she then darted across the street as security guards tried to chase after her.

Authorities have sealed the drain with cement and steel railings following the incident with the woman.

An onlooker, William, said he was snapping photos while walking home from the gym on Monday when he noticed the 'mole woman' pop out of the drainage.

He said: 'Just at the corner of VA Rufino and Adelantado, I saw something that made me freeze— a head coming out of a street drain. Instinct kicked in. I started snapping photos, and couldn't believe my eyes. But then, she started running towards me.'

William said he braced for impact, but the feral local ran past him with a uniformed officer chasing after her. The suspected street dweller reportedly turned a corner and disappeared.

Claiming he was 'haunted by what he saw', the local returned to the scene at around 2:30 am to inspect the drain.

He said: 'The hole wasn't as small as I had initially thought it was. The catch area of the canal was relatively spacious, almost as big as some rooms for rent in the city. But she definitely wasn't sleeping there.

'Even closer, you could see a pipe on the bottom of the catch. A pipe big enough for humans to crawl through.'

Officers were seen in the area later that morning boarding up the sewer opening.

William said: 'It was one of those moments that stays with you. A reminder that Makati's streets hold more stories than we sometimes care to see — and that behind the high rises and the hustle, there are people who live between the cracks—literally. I hope the local government plans to help these people out or at least figure out what's happening.'

The Makati City Police and Makati Central Estate Association had yet to comment on the incident.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are four anthropomorphic turtles who live in the sewers of New York City, using the underground tunnels as both their home and a base for fighting crime.