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.