In the Philippines, 25.2% of the population lives below the national poverty line.
In the Philippines, 60% of the population aged 15 years and above is employed.
For every 1,000 babies born in the Philippines, 22 die before their first birthday.
Under the MDGs, the Philippines committed itself to halving extreme poverty from a level of 33.1% in 1991 to
16.6% by 2015
Causes of Poverty
o low to moderate economic growth for the past 40 years;
o low growth elasticity of poverty reduction;
o weakness in employment generation and the quality of jobs generated;
o failure to fully develop the agriculture sector;
o high inflation during crisis periods;
o high levels of population growth;
o high and persistent levels of inequality (incomes and assets), which dampen the positive impacts of
economic expansion; and
o recurrent shocks and exposure to risks such as economic crisis, conflicts, natural disasters, and
environmental poverty.
Utilitarianism
A society is just to the extent that its laws and institutions are such as to promote the greatest overall or
average happiness of its members.
Basic needs of all must be met
"that must be satisfied in order not to seriously endanger a person's mental or physical well-being
Some of the institutions that utilitarians have championed over the years are:
o (1) A public education system open to all and funded by public money, i.e., taxes.
o (2) A competitive, "free" market economy. In the 19th century utilitarians often argued for a
laissez faire capitalist economy. More recently some of them have argued for a "mixed"
economy, i.e., a state regulated market system
o (3) The protection of the sorts of liberties that were guaranteed in the United States Bill of
Rights, which in turn became a global model
o (4) Democratic forms of government generally.
John Rawls A Theory of Justice
o A society is just to the extent that "all social values--liberty and opportunity, income and
wealth...--are distributed equally except where an unequal distribution of any, or all, of these
values works to everyone's advantage.
Justice as Fairness
First Principle: The Liberty Principle
o Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with similar
liberty for others.
Second Principle: The Equality Principle
o Fair Equality of Opportunity
"offices and positions"should be open to any individual, regardless of his or her social
background, ethnicity or sex
o Difference Principle
There is inequality, but it only permits inequalities that work to the advantage of the
worst-off.
The worst of the society must be given priority first
Libertarianism
emphasizes individual liberty as the central and indeed exclusive concern of social justice
personal autonomy: in favor of civil liberties and a reduction or elimination of the state
A just society must grant and protect the liberty or freedom of each individual to pursue his desired
ends
Kanya-kanya ito. Walang pakialamanan