Causes of Poverty in the Philippines

Lack of Jobs -- one of the causes of poverty in Philippines

Challenges to eradicate poverty in the Philippines are still rampant and the government is making its way to end this, or at least minimize, this problem. But before we fight this problem, we need to know our enemy well; what are the causes of poverty in the Philippines?

According to the research of Uy and Pua on "Poverty: Causes, Effects and How We Can Solve It," the causes of poverty here in the Philippines are (1) inequality of income distribution, (2) lack of quality education, (3) lack of jobs, (4) corruption, (5) natural calamities and (6) over population. These things cause poverty a very challenging problem in which Philippines isn't spared for it.

Then why are these the causes of poverty in the Philippines?

(1) Inequality of Income Distribution
      In 1994, the richest 20% of the population received 52% of the country’s total income, nearly 11 times the share of the poorest 20%. These figures had changed little since the 1980s and had even become slightly worse. In 1985, the richest 20% of the population received the same share of national income as in 1994 and their average income was about 10 times that of the poorest 20%. The distribution of assets has also shown little improvement over the last few decades (Uy and Pua).

(2) Lack of Quality Education
      The 1995 higher education task force showed generally poor performance of college graduates in the various professional board examinations. The task force only found 20/1000 universities/colleges to be recognized as good teaching institutions by a sample of selected countries.
      Elementary schooling is compulsory, but 24% of Filipinos of the relevant age group do not attend, usually due to absence of any school in their area, education being offered in foreign languages only, or financial distress.
      In 2005, the Philippines spent only about US$138 per pupil compared to US$1,582 in Singapore, US$3,728 in Japan, and US$852 in Thailand (Uy and Pua).

(3) Lack of Jobs
      The Social Weather Stations (SWS), a survey group, found that 11 million people or 27.9 percent of the adult labour force (over 18 years) were unemployed.
      The government estimates that 935,700 workers are at risk of losing their jobs both locally and abroad this year. Over 362,000 jobs in the export sector are under threat—90 percent of those are in the electronics, garments and ignition wiring sub-sectors. More than 500,000 overseas jobs are under threat. There are 129,000 temporary workers in the recession-wracked US. Also in recession are South Korea and Taiwan, which between them employ 200,000 Filipino factory workers. Another 48,000 housemaids are employed in Hong Kong and Singapore, which are both contracting economically.
      In addition, the government estimates that 130,000 seamen on cruise ships are facing layoffs. Japanese ship owners, according to Agence France Presse, have notified the government that more than 40,000 crew members on car carriers, bulk carriers and container ships will be laid off as world trade continues to slow (Uy and Pua).

(4) Corruption
      Corruption in the Philippines is very prevalent. It is considered normal for high government officials to get very rich during their tenure of office and then their spouse, children or their relatives will run for an elective position if they can no longer run for office and the process of taking over and corruption goes on.
      An example of a corruption case is the NBN-ZTE deal.
      The scandal erupted when a losing bidder for the project went to the media and complained that the deal by the government with the winning bidder ZTE is full of anomalies and that the supposed deal was brokered by Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos. Comelec is the government agency in charge of all local and national elections. The whistle blower was the son of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He claimed that Abalos was wined and dined in China and was given women for his pleasure and that Abalos will get a hefty commission from the deal. Joey de Venecia, the whistleblower also claimed that he was offered a bribe of ten million dollars for this silence and cooperation. The ZTE deal is worth more than 300 million dollars while deVenecia's (AHI) losing bid is only 130 million dollars (Uy and Pua).

(5) Natural Calamities
      Natural calamities are very dangerous and cause millions worth of damage to property. An example of which is typhoon Ondoy. This damaged P108.9 million worth of infrastructure and affected about 90,000 families. The Department of Agriculture also said that crop losses have reached P3.2 billion (Uy and Pua).

(6) Over Population
      The Philippine’s population growth rate is 2.36% per year. A rapidly growing population also makes it difficult for the Government to keep up with the delivery of what are already deficient public services in health, education, water supply and sanitation, and so on. The empirical record shows conclusively that larger families are more likely to be poor. Many poor families have many children because of poor family planning and religion. This is a big problem because these families only earn very little and they have to use this to feed so many mouths (Uy and Pua).

My poor country, Philippines. How can we help you so that we can help ourselves, too?

Shall Poverty Prevails?

Rural Poverty in the Philippines (Poverties.org)

Poverty has been a very big problem for many countries, whether it be a developed or a developing country. Like for example the country where I live in, the Philippines. One of my teachers, when he was still studying, heard from a known man at his time that poverty will end after 20 years. However, after more than 20 years, did poverty end in this country? No, not yet. I said "not yet" because I am still hoping that one day, my own country will be as develop as its neighboring countries.

Among the many definitions of poverty given by well-known and respected organizations and sites, the defintion given by the BusinessTips.ph caught my attention. It says, "Poverty is the lack of principles, attitudes, values, actions and habits to become rich." I definitely agree to this statement, especially when it comes to lack of attitudes, values and actions to become rich. Why? Simply because they are obviously implied by "some" Filipinos.

One article that I've read said, "Since the new president was elected in 2010, reducing poverty in the Philippines has become an official challenge/target of the new government led by Benigno Aquino. But the country seems to be struggling to maintain the healthy growth of 2010 (above 7%), that remains important to keep the country on the right path (Poverties.org, 2012)."

Above 7% is a good thing that happened because I know that it's not that easy to end poverty with such a short period of time. But we must not just end up with, or even maintain, that 7%. Moreover, poverty is something that we cannot stop, it can just be minimized if the government has a long term program against it (Kemjiu, 2012).

But come to think of it, I am a Filipino so I must do something to eradicate poverty in my own country.