PoS7 – Philippine Public Administration

Name: Rodsheen E. Alejandria Year & Program: AB Political Science

Reaction Paper
On poverty, hunger and employment:
Off-track but not without hope
by Marivic Raquiza

Bridging the Gaps on Shifting Paths

Poverty has been a persistent problem in the Philippines since the time of
colonialism. According to researchers and scholars, the issue has its origins in the
Spanish colonial period, where the social and economic development brought by the
Spaniards were largely concentrated in the cities of strategic and economic importance,
particularly the capital of Manila. Indeed, in the present times, the capital city of the
Philippines has been tagged as the ‘Imperial Manila’. This has been the pejorative
epithet used by sectors of Filipino society and non-Manileños to express the idea that all
the affairs of the Philippines, whether in politics, economy and business or culture, are
decided by what goes on in the capital region, Metro Manila, without considering the
needs of the country, largely because of centralized government and what can be
pertained to as ‘urbanite snobbery’. In fact, empirical researches find that Imperial
Manila and its persistence overtime has led to prolonged underdevelopment in the
Philippine provinces. This sentiment is sometimes expressed by the proverb “Not a leaf
can fall in our country without Malacañang’s permission”. Another expression of Manila’s
powerful influence was voiced by National Artist of the Philippines Nick Joaquin, who
said, “When Manila sneezes, the Philippines catches cold”. One of the many factors
contributing to poverty and inequality in the Philippines is highlighted by this issue. At
first glance, the issue of poverty may appear straightforward. However, it is also
imperative to recognize that it is a multifaceted challenge with underlying causes and
far-reaching consequences. In the article written by Marivic Raquiza, poverty was
clearly explained and how it is interconnected with other issues like hunger,
unemployment, underemployment, and decelerating economic growth with its causes
ranging from factors like natural disasters, bad governance, and corruption, to conflicts
within regions such as what is happening in many areas of Muslim Mindanao. With this,
poverty leads to a much wider gap that the country needs to resolve. According to the
Social Weather Stations (SWS) latest survey that was conducted in March 2024, 46
percent of families in the Philippines said they were poor, 33 percent said they were on
the borderline, while only 23 percent said they were not poor. The 46 percent itself
translates to around 12.9 million families in the country. The SWS also stated that the
number of families who thought themselves as poor was highest in Visayas, followed by
Mindanao, and a balance in Luzon and Metro Manila. Furthermore, the unemployment
and underemployment within the country are the key indicators of poverty and a weak
economy. Today, around 4 million workers (about 12% of the labor force) are
unemployed and another 5 million (around 17% of those employed) are underemployed.
Hence, it’s time we recognize the urgency of addressing poverty. It is a pressing issue
that demands our attention, and one we can no longer ignore.
To better understand the significance of poverty, it is imperative to analyze and
acknowledge the serious consequences it brings, including the perpetuation of
inequality and lack of opportunities for those who are poor and marginalized. First and
foremost, poverty is the biggest hurdle in gaining access to quality education— or even
education in general. Perhaps, this is the biggest contention to the Filipino notion: “Hindi
hadlang ang kahirapan sa pag-aaral”. This saying is mostly hyped up by those who are
privileged, people who have connections, opportunities, and luck. To some point, it is
idealistic and elicits gaslighting. There is no doubt that hard work plays a big role in an
individual’s educational endeavor. But still, a lot of factors are at play and this includes
different circumstances like financial, health, and family problems. Without support
systems, a student is most likely going to dropout from school. In fact, studies have
shown that poverty is associated with poorer academic outcomes and well-being in
tertiary students, leading to negative impacts on academic performance and university
engagement. Although some might justify that scholarships are available for students
who are in need of support, the biggest question arises here, “Are scholarship grants
really for those who are in need? Or is it just for those who have connections?”. After all,
we are in the same ocean, but not in the same boat. Not everyone has the same
opportunity, connections, and stroke of luck as those who are already successful had.
Another inequality that poverty causes is precisely what the article of Marivic Raquiza
has pointed out, wherein a discussion with members from urban poor sector have
observed the rise in prostitution and a women’s NGO has reported stories of women
exchanging sexual favors in exchange for fish or vegetables (‘palit isda’ and ‘palit
bigas’). This is perfectly described by the idiom “Kapit sa patalim”. It is the heart of
desperation, a loss-loss choice between surviving and surviving badly, between being
alive and raggedly so. This only proves that there is also a gender differentiated impact
of poverty, which rests on the exploitation of women. Lastly, hunger is another effect that
needs to be considered and can be viewed as a dimension of extreme poverty. Millions
live with hunger and malnourishment because they simply cannot afford to buy enough
food, cannot afford nutritious foods, or cannot afford the farming supplies they need to
grown enough good food of their own. This is why hunger is often called the most
severe and critical manifestation of poverty. And if we look at it closely, there is a
difference in poverty rate when we compare rural and urban areas. This is to reiterate
and highlight the advantage in opportunities that ‘Imperial Manila’ has compared to
other regions. Rural households are the most heavily burdened by the consequences of
poverty and hunger. In addition to causing hunger, poverty limits a rural community’s
ability to invest in its own development. Often, children who lives in poor rural areas are
kept out of school to save money. Some are even forced to engage in child labor. This
contributes to the disparity in the education in rural and urban children. And what’s even
more concerning is that studies have shown that lack of general education leads to
higher adolescent birth rates; births that in turn over-burden an already economically
strained community, perpetuating a cycle of gender inequality, poverty, and hunger.
So far, I personally view a shift towards a federalist system as one of the ways to
solve poverty and the inequality that it instigates. With what is currently happening and
has recently happened in the country, a unitary system is failing to address most of the
nation’s problems in poverty incidence, corruption, illegal drugs, and criminality.
Whereas a proposed federal constitution will give Filipinos demandable socioeconomic
rights. As according to a proponent of federalism, Eddie Alih said, “Federalism will touch
the lives of the people, especially the lost and the least, because shifting to a federal
setup will bring government social services closer to the poor”. This is because
federalism decentralizes the central government and distributes the power and wealth to
the regions. Through this, the regional government will have exclusive powers over
socioeconomic development in their areas, as well as funds to do so. Budget and fiscal
autonomy have been a long-standing issue among local government units (LGUs) in the
country, according to political analyst and an assistant professor of political science at
the University of the Philippines Diliman, Jan Robert Go. And most of the time,
programs of the national government are “downloaded” to lower-income municipalities
without the benefit of evaluating whether they are applicable and sustainable. Another
contention of federalism advocates is that major tax revenues are turned over to the
national government. For instance, the Bureau of International Revenue (BIR) collects
national internal revenue taxes which include income tax, estate and donor’s taxes,
value-added tax, other percentage taxes, excise taxes, documentary stamp taxes, and
such other taxes that may be imposed and collected by the BIR. The pooled collection
of national internal revenue taxes is split 60-40, with 60 percent going to the national
government and 40 percent to the LGUs through the internal revenue allotment or IRA.
Which is why this distribution of the IRA is also contested by federalism advocates. In
one interview, former President of the Philippines and Mayor of Davao, Rodrigo Duterte,
said that it was unfair that what Davao City gets from the IRA was not even at par
compared to the amount it remits to the national government. As of now, federalism is
one of the probable solutions to break away from the stranglehold of imperial Manila
and eliminate inequalities among distribution of resources among regions. But as long
as we are still under a unitary state, there are still solutions that can address the
problems of poverty. One of which is to invest on the biggest workforce of the
Philippines, and that is the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). But as the article of
Marivic Raquiza states, “While overseas Filipino workers are celebrated as the ‘new
heroes of our time’, the recognition is not well translated to concrete government
programs and policies that seek to assist and protect them. Another area that also
needs to be strengthened as pointed out in the article, are the government’s anti-
poverty programs. But of course, the solution to poverty not only lies within the
government but also to us, as Filipinos and citizens of the country. It is true that the
main factors causing poverty are unemployment, underemployment, corruption, political
dynasties, and bad governance, but it is also important to owe up that as citizens, we
also have our fair share of mistake, and that is our indolence. It is ironic that most of us
have the talents and capabilities but not everyone is striving, as some of us prefer to
stay on the side lines and wait for the government to resolve all the problems. As a
matter of fact, aside from laziness, most of the Filipinos, especially those who are still
capable, only resorts to begging for alms on the street, while others add up to the
problem with their lack of family planning while being drunkards, tattletales, and
gamblers. The progress of our country starts from every individual. So, if we continue to
idle and do nothing but blame it all on the government, we cannot expect the Philippines
to continue moving forward. After all, as what our instructor in Philippine Public
Administration, Atty. Regean U. Ellorimo said, it starts with us, the people. In the first
place, we were the ones who put our leaders in position so it is not only them, but also
us, who have an important part to play when it comes to bridging the gaps on
uncertainties— the so-called shifting paths.