44 Tumulak, Jamaica Marie M.

2B-PH
Reflection Paper

One of the major problems that continue to plaque the Philippines is poverty. Despite the
said efforts of both government and business firms, many Filipinos still experience the said
problem. It is not a simple problem because nowadays we are facing mass poverty. For all the
superb testimonies to mans superior skill and intellect in producing todays level of cultural
development, he still has to find the solution to mass poverty. Whether the government would
admit it or not, it is very clear even with our bare eyes that we our suffering a lot from poverty.
News articles from a range of years had identical write-ups about poverty, no changes at
all. Its still as rampant as of 2001 up to now. And they had comparable reasons why it still goes
on. Urban bias in public investment for infrastructure and provision of safety nets, implicit
taxation of agricultural products and an overvalued exchange rate, direct taxation of agricultural
exports and imports subsidies, subsidies for capital intensive technologies, favouring export
crops over food crops, breakdown of law and order, ill defined property right or unfair
enforcement of rights to agricultural land and other natural resources; high concentration of land
ownership, corrupt politicians and rent-seeking government officials, poor employment
throughout the country, unsuccessful rationalizing of the allocating government assistance, lack
of opportunity, lack o f security, and lack of empowerment are among the thousands of reasons
that cause poverty to our country and to us Filipinos, individually.
According to PS Link, 25 % of the Annual National Budget ends up in corruption and
this gave the Philippines the position as the most corrupt country in Asia. Corruption affects
income inequality and poverty as well as economic efficiency by reducing economic growth, the
progressives of the tax system, the level and effectiveness of social programs, and by
perpetuating an unequal distribution of asset ownership and unequal access to education.
Government support for the public educational system has been declining and this is
manifested by the severe shortages besetting the sector. We have small and filthy classrooms, we
conquer poor education as a result and we became poorer and poorer. The government lack of
support affects our daily life, we encounter poor infrastructure, heavy traffics due to poor quality
of our roads, unemployment, spreading diseases, expensive medicines, high tuition fees, elevated
cost of living, and taxes.
Overpopulation has numerous detrimental consequences, mainly to the environment and
to the society. Nature is finite, and therefore, can only support a limited number of individuals.

Natural resources like food, water, and even energy are slowly running out because of the
increasing consumption rate.
According to IBON Foundation, the stubbornness of high unemployment and
underemployment despite reported third quarter economic growth affirms that joblessness is a
serious cause for concern. The governments labour force data shows that there were 4.5 million
unemployed and 7.3 million underemployed.
It is the children that suffer most from poverty. Every day we see a huge number of
children wandering the dangerous street of Manila selling cigarettes, candies, rags, or even
wiping your shoes when you ride in on a jeepney then asking for alms. It is very crucial and heart
breaking to witness. Yet sometimes we ignore in result they suffer a lot more.
In everyday life we wont last a day without even single news about crime. It seems like
our country is known in such remorseless situation. As stated by the Asian Development Bank,
Poverty causes people who are desperate for money to rob and do crimes for easy cash.
There are many factors that if well going to think about, it will certainly help a lot for
attaining zero poverty. One factor is cooperation among all Filipinos, including the government
officials. Why not cooperate and unite to think as one for our country to progress.
Another key factor needed for surviving poverty is education. The government needs to
prioritize the educational status of our country. As the old clich goes, Education is the key to
success. Once a Filipino is educated, he can contribute a lot in attaining improvement for our
country.
One thing more important aspect for subsidizing poverty is the reformation of our
countrys financial infrastructure. By developing our infrastructure and utilities, the government
should offer a multiple job opportunities for the jobless Filipinos and will afford them ample
income to fund their basic needs without enough sayings to both and if the government can
successfully provide opportunities, it would be more helpful in subsidizing poverty if those
theyre going to hire took re-orientation and re-education for them to improve their ability and
quality as public servants as assurance for their effective contribution in taking a lift of our
countrys situation.
Philippines should need to upgrade its business climate to allure foreign investors in
investing in our homeland. The government should improve political stability, overcome
corruption and uplift the level of governance to make the country attractive to its investors.
The problem of overpopulation must therefore, be addressed urgently. The government
should provide information about birth control methods and about the damaging effects of
overpopulation, especially to those in the lower class area of society. Family planning might be
contrary to the stand of the Catholic Church, but the Church should be separated from the state.

Like the Church, the government also should make citizens aware of their stand regarding birth
control. The public should have enough information regarding the stands of both sides, and who
they decide to follow is already up to them.
This reflection paper comprehensively shows the causes of poverty and recommends
ways to accelerate poverty reduction and achieve more inclusive growth. In the immediate and
short term there is a need to enhance government's poverty reduction strategy and involve key
sectors for a collective and coordinated response to the problem. In the medium and long term
the government should continue to pursue key economic reforms for sustained and inclusive
growth.

SOURCES
Shah, A. (2014, September 8). Causes of poverty. Global Issues. Retrieved April 13, 2015
from http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty
Uy, J. (n.d.) Poverty: causes, effects, and how we can solve it. Retrieved April 13, 2015
from http://sites.my.xs.edu.ph/joseph-pua-14/social-science/poverty-causes-effects-and-how-wecan-solve-it
Poverty in the Philippines: lack of vision, yet new solution?. (n.d.) Retrieved April 13, 2015
from http://www.poverties.org/poverty-in-the-philippines.html
Poverty in the Philippines: causes, constraints, and opportunities. (2009, December). Asian
Development Bank. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from http://www.adb.org/publications/povertyphilippines-causes-constraints-and-opportunities.
http://ibon.org/ibon_articles.php?id=292
http://ibon.org/ibon_articles.php