Reaction Paper for December

Poverty in Philippines

 Poverty is a significant problem, and in combination with high income inequality, it poses a serious threat to stability in the Philippines. The proportion of the population living below US$1.25 a day in 2006 was 23 per cent or around 20 million people. At the same time, about 44 per cent or over 40 million Filipinos were living on less than US$2 a day. While the Philippines were able to reduce poverty incidence from as high as 30 per cent in the early 1990s, the actual number of people living in poverty has increased over the last two decades. The global food and fuel price crises in 2007 and 2008, and the global economic crisis that followed, are estimated to have pushed even more people into poverty.

Economic growth in the Philippines has been unable to lift many of the rural poor out of poverty who traditionally rely on the agricultural sector for employment and typically have less access to basic services, lower levels of education and larger families to support. Even during periods of stronger economic growth, such as 2004–2008, poverty continued to rise. Various factors have contributed to the lack of progress on poverty reduction in the Philippines. 

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Reaction

We all know that poverty is like a basic economic problem for every country but here in Philippines, poverty is growing and it is because of some reasons such as; high population growth, income inequality and inability of the government to provide sufficient basic services, especially to people in poorer remote region. As we noticed, people in the remote areas have high population and this is resulting to increase of poverty. Thus, the government should guide them or give them a free family planning so that they will know the consequences of having too much children. But if the government will disregard these issues many children will suffer and eventually become uneducated person.

Well, if only the government provide basic services for the people in remote region probably poverty will decrease. However, we have also one economic problem that prevents the solution for poverty and that is Corruption, that government officials own the money instead of using it to provide basic services for the people. With this in mind, I feel sorry for those people in remote areas because we all know that corruption which is also one reason why poverty exists is not that easy to remove in our society particularly in our Government.

--cyrus santonil