LESSON 2

Analyzing the
Effects of
Contemporary
Economic issues
affecting the
Filipino
entrepreneur
 What’s New

It was discussed in the previous lesson the basic economic problems in our country and
this includes poverty, lack of education, unemployment and corruption.  These are the
most common problems that can be seen daily in our day to day activities. There are still
economic problems but these four are the most common. With these economic problems
being mentioned above, what do you think are its effects to the Filipino entrepreneur and
the economy of the country as a whole?
 AKTIBIDAD
Read the lyrics of the song entitled “Magbago Ka” by Freddie Aguilar.
Below the song is a space provided for your realization. Is our country
changing for the better? Is there hope after what is happening to the world
nowadays? Explain.
Magbago Ka
Kung lalagi kang ganyan
‘Di ka man lang nag-isip Ikaw ay walang pupuntahan    
'Di ka man lang nagsikap Baka umabot ka hanggang sa
Pinabayaan mo ang iyong kinabukasan kulungan
Ba't ka ganyan Mag-isip ka
'Di naman sila nagkulang 'Di ka ba naaawa
Ibinigay ang 'yong kailangan Sa 'yong mahal na ama't ina
Bakit bumagsak ka sa kalokohan Nabibilang na ang kanilang mga araw
Nagpabaya ka Magbago ka
[Repeat Chorus]
Lagi kang naglalasing
'Di ka ba naaawa
Magulang mo'y 'di pinapansin
Sa 'yong mahal na ama't ina
Nais lang naman nila'y sa 'yong
Bibiguin mo ba ang kanilang mga pangarap
kabutihan Magbago ka
Magbago ka'Di ka ba naaawa
Magbago ka Sa 'yong mahal na ama't ina
Magbago ka Bibiguin mo ba ang kanilang mga pangarap
Magbago ka Magbago ka
Magbago ka
Magbago ka Magbago ka
Nang 'di ka magsisi sa huli..
 Poverty.
This is never been a blind figure in our community. Many are suffering from this
problem. How can we say that a person or a family is experiencing this kind of
problem? Yes, a family can be suffering with this economic problem if this family
cannot buy their basic needs (food, shelter and clothing), as well as cannot send their
children to school, They lived in a squatter area with not enough space for their
shelter/home. And therefore, this problem can be a reason for other problems. What
do you think are these? These can be lack of education, malnutrition, early marriage of
children, unemployment , among others. Aside from these effects, since poor families
rely their income from their unsecured employment, meaning working but it’s either on
a contractual basis or “pakyaw”, they don’t have the purchasing power or the ability to
buy the goods and services being sold in the market. They can buy but on a limited
basis because they don’t have the money to buy it. They have to secure for their food
first before buying anything beyond thier needs. This therefore makes our economy
more stiff because if most of our people are poor, are economy will also be poor.
This problem as stated above is the result of poverty. Because families who are poor are only
securing for their food, their children cannot be sent to school because they cannot afford it.
Although our government has this Education for All Program, where public schools are all free of
its tuition fees and sometimes even the school supplies are given to students who well-deserved
it, still children oftentimes stop their schooling because of hunger. They go to school without
eating their breakfast or lunch and without even their “baon”, therefore, they stop going to
school. And because children coming from poor families cannot graduate usually in high school,
they end up as laborers without fixed income or salaries which in return will make them stay as
a poor family. And the cycle continues except if parents will look for a way to make sure that
their children continue their education. Most of the times both father and mother are working in
order to provide for the needs and the schooling of their children so that they can someday get
out of the problem.

Lack of education.
 Unemployment.
If a person is undergraduate, for sure he cannot find a job with a better salary. This is a very serious problem. If
someone does not have a job, he will end up a very problematic person because he/she cannot provide for the needs
of his/her family neither can sustain it. This will lead someone to a go to a place where he can find a job or a place
where job opportunities are being offered - to a high urbanized city, a highly industrialized one where a male can apply
for a construction company or any elementary occupation as well as a female can apply for household works. This is
what comes to a mind of someone who is an undergraduate or has not go to school at all, or stay in his or her place in
the rural area and remain as a farmer or a fisherman. Sometimes, women tend to settle to prostitution just to earn for a
living and so unwanted child are born or abortion exists. These kind of work do not give opportunity for a better salary
even if there is that so called “Salary Standardization law”. There are employers who let their employees sign in a
payroll with the correct amount of salary as prescribed by the law but what is actually received by the employee is much
lesser than what is stated in the payroll that they have signed. So that this problem do not come to the attention of the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Employees especially these undergraduate individuals do not have the
courage to inform the agency of what is actually they are receiving that is against the law. This problem leads to another
problem and that is overpopulation in the urban areas. Here, room rentals and bed spacers are in demand that lead to
overpricing of the rooms. As the law of supply and demand, as the demand increases, the price of the products also
increases. Likewise, demand for goods also increase thereby increases the price of the products. And though prices in
urban areas are high, a laborer still opt to stay because here he/she can be employed and stay employed.

Government officials should appropriate economic policies for labor intensive industries especially on rural areas so that
persons living in the rural areas will not migrate to urban areas and avoid overpopulation in urban areas.
 Corruption.
As what we have learned In the previous lesson, this is a dishonest act or bribery of someone in a
position in the government or those employees working in a government office. This is the reason why
there is the delay in the development and improvement as expected in our country. Because of this
problem, social services and other infrastructure projects that are intended for the people are not felt and
seen per se because the whole amount of a project will not be spent as a whole because there is this so-
called “under-the-table”, “standard operating procedures or SOPs”. Before a project is finished, tables for
processing of its papers with the different government agencies has its share. Gifts to government
officials and government employees in a higher rank enjoys these gifts in return for a project approved.
Although, there are those government employees who are still straight and honest enough not to join
with what is the “culture” of the office , still they as one of the members/employees of the office cannot do
away with it. Delay of the projects happen and so economically slows down the growth of the country.
And if the growth of our economy is hindered, then people of our country are also affected as well as
entrepreneurs and industries.

There are still so many problems our country is facing. Overpopulation, underemployment, unequal
distribution of wealth, poor performance of agriculture sector of the economy as our economic problem,
child labor, lack of adequate social services, terrorism, prostitution as social problems, and many more.
These problems are interrelated and affects our entrepreneur and our economy as a whole.
ACTIVITY
TIME!
Instructions. On the left side of the table are problems our
country is facing. Answer on the right side of the table the
corresponding effects of a problem. You can answer as many
as you can. Separate your answer with just a comma.

PROBLEMS/ISSUES OF THE EFFECTS

COUNTRY
Poverty

Lack of Education

Unemployment

Drug Addiction

Prostitution

Pollution

Terrorism
 Activity 2

Matching type. Match items in column A (problem) with column

B(effect). Write  your answer on the space provided before each
number.

_____1. Poverty a. Scarcity of resources

 ____2. Overpopulation b. Cannot provide for basic needs
 _____3. Corruption c settle for elementary occupation
 _____4. Unemployment d. abortion/unwanted child
 _____5. Pollution e. criminality increases
 _____6. Lack of education f. Malnutrition
 _____7. Child labor g. delay in delivery of goods and services
 _____8. Underemployment   h. health issues
_____9. Inequality i. unequal distribution of wealth
 _____10.Drug addiction j. unproductive employees
REPORTERS:

JEANYLLE ULAR
JANELLE LABADOR