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Friday, July 16, 2010

"Why is there massive poverty in the Philippines?"

 "Why is there massive poverty in the Philippines?"

Millennium Development Goal # 1 is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (WorldBank 2002 Indicators). According to UNICEF 2008, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty. Philippine National Development Plan of 2006, states that poverty line is for those people who can not afford a thirty-six pesos daily consumption (GMA7 Taruk's Journal 2009). And according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, poverty is the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. What then really is POVERTY? What are its measures? And WHY is there MASSIVE POVERTY in the PHILIPPINES?

We will only understand the cause of poverty if we know the real concept / consensus of what poverty is. It may differ from one perspective to another, depending on how we look at it as individual. Base on the facts stated, let's lay down our focus on poverty in the aspect of living or individual's status in the community. Poverty is the incapability of a person to sustain its basic needs. For me there are several causes of poverty: 1. Environmental causes. Due to the geographical positioning,Philippines is in the Ring of Fire, thus we are frequently hit by the environments natural phenomenon like storms, earthquakes etc... Way back 1990's, Ormoc City bay was hit by two tornadoes which killed thousand's of lives and millions of properties destroyed. Early 2010, Northern Philippines was hit by storm Ondoy. Currently, storm Basyang killed the livelihood of the people in Luzon. Fishes were killed due to the sudden change of weather. Fishermen were killed while on the sea. And Petron's oil spill was also caused by storm Basyang. One common effect of these phenomenon is the destruction of man's livelihood. 2. Government. After the time of Pres. Marcos up to the present Aquino administration, people has looked up to the government as a solution or a cause of poverty. Government can cause poverty thru mismanagement of government due to lack of sincere interest for the benefit of ALL. War and political instability attributes also to poverty just like what is happening in the Mindanao area. Investors and businesses do not sprout in these areas because of terror. Thus, people in this area depends solely on agriculture. Urbanization is impossible to rise. 3. Social Inequality. The distinction between RICH and POOR. Rich ones may tend to abuse the poor ones like slavery. A poor one who's desperate to have money sells his strength in a much low salary to sustain his daily needs. Social injustices are also created by industry, money world or investors. Example: Employee A is working in a computer manufacturing firm but never has a computer at home. This often allows me to prove the popular saying “ The rich became richer and the poor became poorer.” And lastly 4. Personal causes. We should not put our life to other people's hand. According to the famous poetic lines of Henley “We are the masters of our fate and the captain of our souls.” Thus most of the time, I would say our poverty is caused by our own actions. Our laziness to worker harder and more hours does not allow us to earn higher position in the company or earn more. Our lack of quality consciousness or readiness to face life is a solid ground of failing in life. Example: Two lovers people got married at the age of 18. Tina got pregnant at the age of 18. Tom is only 18,too. Their daughter Mina at an early age of 2 learned to eat by asking alms from passersby. Tina is a housewife because she doesn't know any work. While Tom, drives a pedicab to earn 100 in a day. Their situation shows a great manifestation of physical as well as metaphysical or spiritual incapability to sustain family's needs that causes poverty. Like Tina and Tom, we are the ones who create our own fate. And all these causes are present in the Philippine scenario.

Poverty is not a problem that we can not solve or avoid. Government can provide livelihood programs. Private entities, NGO's and parties provide alternative solutions aim towards development. And our capabilities and sense of responsibility can lead our lives to improvement. So even if there are so many job vacancies but we did not apply, we still will not earn. But with constant cooperation with everyone in the community, we can slowly resolve the problem on poverty. This scenario is what I see in the current Philippine situation on poverty. We shouldn't just manage to smile. We should work our fate out to achieve our goal.

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