Ah, Philippines! Known for it's beautiful and historical scenery with a dash of a one of a kind Filipino attitude of being joyful and hospitable, which letting people around the globe come back for more. Letting the economy rise because of tourists, giving the country a chance to be developed and to be globally known. Tall and elegant buildings may sprout like mushrooms while on the contrary a lot of people are still struggling to survive poverty.
Despite on how it goes around this country it still stand strong, I mean a lot of economic incident happened for over the past years but as time goes by it managed to literally (economically) survive.
"After slowing to 3.8% growth during 2008, and sputtering to 1.1% during
2009, real year-on-year GDP growth rebounded to 7.3% during 2010, a
34-year high, fueled in part by election-related spending, optimism over
the peaceful transition to a new government, and an accommodating
monetary policy."
See how it plunked down and get back in an even more higher percentage of GDP growth. But how?
An
article said that one of the reasons why Philippines got through economic crisis is the remittance of the OFW's:
"Overseas workers’ remittances, which remained resilient during the
global financial crisis, expanded by 8.2% in 2010 to $18.7 billion
(nearly 10% of GDP) and helped support the balance of payments and
international reserves. Annual GDP growth averaged 4.6% over the past
decade, but it will take a higher, sustained economic growth path--at
least 7%-8% per year by most estimates--to make progress in poverty
alleviation given the Philippines' annual population growth rate of
2.04%, one of the highest in Asia."
Thanks to the OFW's which are also considered to be the modern hero but as they work their way out to poverty and "saving" the economy... another problem arise - the level of population under the poverty line increased from 24.9% to 26.5% (an equivalent of 3.3million poor Filipinos) in between 2003 and 2009.
 |
| so this means a lot of mouth to feed. |
" The Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) industry currently
accounts for about 15% of the global outsourcing market and has been the
fastest-growing segment of the Philippine economy. Although industry
revenues slowed from 40% growth during 2006 and 2007, the BPO sector
exhibited resilience amid the global financial turmoil, generating more
than $6 billion in revenues in 2008 (up 26%) and $7.2 billion in 2009.
BPO revenues rose 26% to nearly $9 billion in 2010. The sector created
about 100,000 new jobs in 2010, bringing total BPO employment as of
end-2010 to about 525,000."
So this means an additional to the revenue and an expansion of remittances occur during those times. And the boom of outsourcing of employees became a big help to the economy for it also gave a huge number of job opportunities to people. The business outsourcing process has grown 46% annually since 2006. BPO became a boom because of three factors: lower labor costs, a highly skilled and educated work force, and high proficiency in speaking English. (Thank you American colonizers! :D)
Nevertheless, the fact that a lot of people are still in poverty, Philippines still face difficulty engaging this issue like for a lifetime. So the remittances and revenues are not enough... but why?
The government hasn't been able to sustain the growth of its economy and reduce the level of poverty at the same time (I guess theirs a short-run trade off happening in between).
WHO TO BLAME?
The government officials... the President, perhaps? (poor president for he always gets the blame)
Most people answer "The government" or "the president" when asked about who to blame and when asked them why they will answer, "because they are corrupt".
STEPH says:
Well, it's partly their fault but we must not blame them entirely on what's happening in the country because the economic world does not only revolves around them. We somehow give causes of poverty, I mean why don't we start to make the "move"? If we think that the government officials can't govern the country then why do we just sit here and depend on them or just wait for some changes (which occurs once in a blue moon). Start with your own little ways. Remember, those people in higher position were also once an ordinary citizen of this republic, right?
Being on their shoes is a big responsibility, poverty is just one of the many issues they deal with everyday. And somehow they also come up with solutions (like relocation plans for squatters) that may not give a sudden good result but at least they have done something with their jobs.
We may live in a very political country, but surviving poverty is not a thing that we must depend to the government. It's not in their hands what will going to happen with our lives. It's time to change the Filipino image of "Juan Tamad". We should do a lot of hard work in order to survive, there's a lot of ways to achieve each and other goals.
I remember one quote in a movie (Happy feet 2) that says:
"If you want it, you must will it. If you will it, it will be yours"
