Poverty in the Philippines

Cavite West Point College, Samantha, B.

20 December 2021
 Poverty in the Philippines
By
Samantha, B.
College Student
Ternate Cavite Philippines

Abstract: This study begins with the discussion regarding the definition of poverty
and, what are the particular reason why most people in the Philippines are
experiencing poverty, subsequently stating, the following solutions in reducing the
number of poverties specifically, the Philippines.
Poverty in the Philippines
West Point College,
Ternate Cavite Philippines, Samantha, B

Introduction
Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including foods, clothing, and
shelter. However, poverty is much more, more than just not having enough money. – Brunswick,
Canada. This study aims to spread awareness regarding the poverty in the Philippines and the
gathered data that every reader and researcher must be aware of. Reducing and preventing poverty to
increase is crucial in the Philippines and knowing the causes and effects of poverty is essential to all
people.
Poverty in the Philippines
West Point College,
Ternate Cavite Philippines, Samantha, B

“Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and
essentials for a minimum standard of living -Investopedia”. Poverty is the reason why many people
in the Philippines are suffering in the past decades and in the present time. What causes poverty in
the Philippines?
The causes of the poverty in the Philippines are lack of good education. The particular reason why
there are some children who does not have a good education is due to financial problem, this actively
demonstrates that the family cannot afford the children’s tuition fees or miscellaneous fees that
needs to be paid and some are forced to find a job because their parents can no longer support their
needs. There are also some cases where there aren’t schools close by, this leads them to a difficult
situation or circumstance because they lack something that is essential to their future.
lack of government support. The Philippines has been known as the third world country. Many
people in the Philippines are suffering from financial problem and lack of basic needs. There are
some government who are unwilling to help the poor they even fail to provide a good infrastructure.
One of the weightiest things that needs to be stopped is corruption, a form of criminal offense which
is undertaken by a specific person in an organization that is entrusted by a position with authority
and using it to gain benefits or abuses the power for one’s personal gain. This is usually done by a
specific person in a government organization that leads to the lacking of funds for the poor.
Weather or Climate Change. “climate change has the power to impoverish 100 million people in the
next decade or so” – World Bank. Climate change causes drastic storms, floods, and drought. This
happened in the Philippines 2013, November 3 to 11. A typhoon Haiyan also known as Typhoon
Yolanda was one of the most powerful Typhoon that made landfall in the Philippines. During the
typhoon 6,300 people were found dead, millions of houses and coconut trees were destroyed. This is
the reason why people in the Philippines suffered for years, struggling to recover from adversity due
to the damages the climate change has caused. Drought is one of the causes why people of the
Philippines suffer from poverty due to abnormally low rainfall that leads to the shortage of water,
unpropitious weather lowers the crop yields and decimates livestock, this denotes the decrease of
income specifically for farmers sending them further into poverty.

Poverty in the Philippines

West Point College,
Ternate Cavite Philippines, Samantha, B

Lack of good healthcare. Poor people are more prone to illness or bad health, the reason is
healthcare is often costly. They cannot afford the expenses that they need to settle and they still need
to make a decision of what comes first. Most of the people chose to spend the money for their
family’s needs leaving them untreated that’s why they suffer more and push them closer to poverty.
Social injustice. This happens to most of the people. Gender or identity discrimination, racism.
People who suffer from social injustice often find themselves feel helpless, and unworthy. They find
it more difficult to find a job, a good education, or to even access resources to lift them out of
poverty because they are experiencing social injustice. Inequality in human rights is also a part of
social injustice.
Poverty is the reason why many people in the Philippines are suffering, adults and children even
organizations but, why do we experience poverty? And why is there poverty? “Poverty exists
because of bigger systems such as changing market demand for skills or labor, gaps in social safety
nets, the high costs of education and health, and systematic discrimination that’s why poverty exists
for all these interlocking reasons and is compounded by the interaction of causes and effects” –
homeless hub.
It’s all because of the society, the system that we’re living in, the government organizations that
were assigned in a specific areas or places, the rules and protocols that we need to follow and
improve.
Is there a solution in poverty? The Borgen Project published an article entitled, “Combating Poverty
in the Philippines”. The Borgen project stated that the Philippines has a fairly high poverty rate with
more than 16 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Because of the many people
reliant on the agriculture for an income and inequality in wealth distribution, about 17.6 million
Filipinos struggles to afford basic necessities. From 2015 to 2020, the rate of poverty declined from
21.6 percent to 16.6 percent. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte aims to reduce the rate of poverty
to 14 percent by 2022. In the article, they explain the five ways on how the Philippines are trying to
combat poverty. Here are the five ways the program is combating the poverty in the Philippines:

Poverty in the Philippines

West Point College,
Ternate Cavite Philippines, Samantha, B
Greater access to education. People gain basic skills and increase job opportunities through
education which can help combat the poverty in the Philippines that is why the Philippines signed
Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act 2017 to encourage more people to enroll in
higher education and to address the issue of education in inequality thus, the government subsidizes
the cost of tuitions for State Universities and colleges as well as other expenses such as school
supplies. Private institutions also have access to a tuition subsidy. They mentioned that the act aims
to decrease the number of dropouts in higher education and promote the idea that the higher
education is available to all.

Greater access to healthcare. In their effort to improve the healthcare system, President Rodrigo
Duterte signed the Universal Healthcare Act in February 2019. It is said that the Universal
Healthcare Act provides access to the full spectrum of healthcare by enrolling citizens in the
National Insurance Program and granting healthcare coverage to all since the healthcare services is
not completely free, they decided that those who are suffering from poverty will have more access to
health services. The declared act will form HTAC (Health Technology and Assessment Council,
consisting of health care experts who will help assess the health developments such as technology,
vaccines, and other advancements, to ensure the effectiveness of healthcare. Moreover, the
Philippines will allocate more funds to PhilHealth, which will improve the quality of service and
decrease the cost of medicines.

Family aid. Further efforts to support citizens, the governments implemented the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program also called 4Ps in 2007. The aim of the program is to give household
grants as long as they meet certain requirements, including keeping the children in school.

Poverty in the Philippines

West Point College,
Ternate Cavite Philippines, Samantha, B

Economic improvement. With their goal of lowering the number of poverties in the Philippines, it
was stated that President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Law in February 2019,
declaring the tariffication act of 1996. This aims to benefit the local farmers by creating a more
efficient and competitive agricultural system.
The Duterte administration created a (build, build, build infrastructure plan in 2017). It was said that
improving the country’s infrastructure will stimulate the economy and create more jobs and many
opportunities to the people.

Another goal and plan of the government organization is to create or build a shelter out of bamboo.
This will decrease the number of homeless people in the Philippines and this will improve their way
of living as well as the level of poverty they’re experiencing.

Endnotes:

1. World bank
2. Brunswick, Canada
3. Universal Healthcare Act
4. Investopedia
5. Philhealth

References

Asian Development Bank- https://www.adb.org/publications/poverty-philippines-causes-

constraints-and-opportunities
The Borgen Project- https://borgenproject.org/tag/poverty-in-the-philippines/#:~:text=The
%20Philippines%20has%20a%20fairly,living%20below%20the%20poverty
%20line.&text=From%202015%20to%202020%2C%20the,poverty%20to%2014%25%20by
%202022.
Brunswick Canada- https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/esic/overview/content/
what_is_poverty.html#:~:text=Poverty%20is%20about%20not%20having,Poverty%20is
%20lack%20of%20shelter.
Human Rights Careers- https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/root-causes-of-poverty/
InterAction- https://www.interaction.org/blog/the-top-9-causes-of-global-poverty/