AUTHOR SPEAKS
An Open Letter for Philippines’ (almost) impregnable enemy
People who cannot meet their fundamental necessities such as food, water, clothes, shelter, and education are considered to be poor.
Poverty — is everyone’s burden. In some ways, that guy or girl, young or old, affluent or poor, is one of their difficulties. Isn’t it true that the affluent are impacted because they are angered by the poor?
Almost of Filipinos are considered impoverished. And it’s difficult to comprehend that it’s the innocent youngsters who are suffering the most. They are taught from an early age how to earn a living, both for themselves and for their families. They are already vulnerable to risks or diseases that might destroy them and their destiny at such a young age. There is no play, no childhood, and no education — as in NOTHING.
Why did this even happen?
The cause of this monstrous problem is not as simple as painting one picture, but rather a mosaic full of something to be blamed on. It all points to the same image, yes, but it has multiple spectrums that seem to have gotten the point of many.
Corrupt politicians are one of the primary causes of poverty in the Philippines. Powerful individuals are just concerned about themselves. They abuse their influence and misuse government funding for personal gain. They reap millions and billions of dollars while impoverished people who voted for them go hungry. This is a significant obstacle which Filipinos are evidently not ready to face yet.
While it is true, the people are to blame too. The Philippines is a densely populated country with no family planning and little to no sex education at all. Unfortunately, the topic of reproductive health is still taboo and exaggerated concerns seem to have gotten the mute ring for them. As a result, there is massive population growth. With limited resources, every government finds it challenging to meet the needs of such a vast population.
When we put everything in the same raft, we can see that the fight against poverty makes more sense. The number of jobs remains steady, while the country’s population is growing by the day, resulting in massive unemployment. Not to mention the leaning of the government towards capitalists rather than its people. It’s sad, it’s just that sad.
That’s not only it, we have more
As we have said, the Philippine government is unable to provide enough government positions while the quality of education is progressively declining. When an individual does not satisfy the qualifications for a government position, He does sporadic private jobs and makes little money.
For one thing, the country is vulnerable to natural calamities and climate change. In fact, according to PAGASA, an average of 20 typhoons pass through the archipelago every year. That’s almost triple the number of typhoons most countries experience. On the other hand, the Philippines’ agricultural community has suffered greatly as a result of climatic change or natural calamities. Farmers have suffered significant losses as a result of climate change; even if a farmer earns enough money, he cannot provide basic necessities for his family, complicating his life and perpetuating the poverty cycle.
If we connect things, doesn’t this serve as a catalyst to an even bigger problem? You see, it slows the country’s economic growth. On the upside, it also raises the crime rate because of a greater inspiration to prosper, but on the downside, they are forced to steal or commit even more horrendous crimes just for the sake of surviving a week or even a day.
Yes, a reality in which we need to live.
There is always a silver lining for everything
Fast forward…okay let’s say you want to have change, but how exactly?
- Learn…learn…learn: Improved Education and literacy
The narrow access to education in disadvantaged communities is a factor in systemic poverty. Education provides people with basic skills and more work options, which might aid in the fight against poverty. As a result, the Philippines passed the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act in 2017 in order to encourage more individuals to pursue higher education and to address the issue of educational disparity.
Tuition and other expenditures like school supplies are subsidized by the government for students attending state universities and colleges (SUCs). Tuition subsidies are also available to private universities. The Act intends to reduce the number of college dropouts and to promote the concept that higher education is accessible to all.
2. A healthcare, must be a public care
Poverty and health are intricately linked. Breast-feeding, attending school, working to cultivate food, earning a job, or feeding a family all rely on a basic degree of health. However, when over a million people live on less than the minimum income per day and another thousand on below what they anticipate for a day, many have little opportunity to prepare for future health-care expenditures or even pay for health-care services now.
Extreme poverty has various interactions with health and impairs a wide spectrum of human talents, prospects, and opportunities. Evidence from all throughout the world points to a connection between poverty, hunger, and poor child health. Poor child health and malnutrition result in poor school achievement and, as a result, an inability to find suitable job and sustain the next generation. As a result, the negative spiral that perpetuates poverty persists.
Poverty also raises health risks: poorer people’s workplace surroundings frequently have higher environmental hazards for sickness and disability; certain environmental considerations, such as a lack of access to safe drinking water, unfairly target poor families. Over 40% of the world’s population lacks basic sanitation, and more than 1 billion people continue to consume contaminated water.
3. Bring economic growth to the people
Past economic policies that impeded growth, as well as the reluctance of strong elites to make much-needed changes, were solely accountable for the Philippines’ higher prevalence and tenacity of poverty. Recent policy measures have boosted growth, but more reforms might hasten poverty elimination.
Ironically, it is the people who are working to make a change in the economy. As usual, the government seems to have turned a deaf ear towards them — who are the source of what we have today. Lack of support plus a wide range of discrimination is the perfect formula for the economy to fall into debt.
As we can see, it begins to stumble again. Prices start to get high, from petrol to basic commodities. Ask yourself, do they still pass through this? Not any longer. If the government doesn’t take any action, the country may crumble into itsy bitsy pieces… again.
Now, well… I think I missed something.
Hold on…
Okay, precisely, the answer of hope is still in everybody’s hand. It’s either you make a difference or just accept that things are meant to happen in that way. However, let me remind you that it’s now more than ever. Well, as we say, the problem is in your burden of yourself. The change that you want to see starts with you (yes, you).
This may sound pretty familiar, but the thing is, this keeps being reminded all the time and yet most people don’t seem to care at all. This serves as a constant reminder that noise matters in a world full of silence.
So again, let me ask you.
Are you up for it?
