by Nicasio Angelo Agustin
Let’s take a closer look at some indicators. The incidence of poverty is high because the per capita income is already low and wealth is concentrated among only a few. The wealthiest 20 percent of our population have over half of the national wealth, and the poorest 20 percent have less than one-twentieth. The gap between the rich and the poor has been increasing through the years and the Philippines is one of the top developing countries which have high income inequality.
Disparity in income is not only true among households and families. Disparity also exists among the different areas of the country. As expected, wealth is concentrated in Luzon, particularly Metro Manila. The poorest provinces of the country are in the Visayas and Mindanao, though poverty incidence is also severe in some southern areas of Luzon, specifically the Bicol region. The three (3) regions with the highest proportion of poor families are all in Mindanao – the Caraga Region, the Western Mindanao Region and the ARMM.
The low per capita income and the low concentration of income in the poorer segment of society reflect one thing: lack of productive employment opportunities where they are most badly needed. A saving grace for a lot of poor families is the availability of work in other countries. There are about eight to nine million of Filipinos deployed all over the globe to date. Their remittances are a great help to their otherwise impoverished families languishing in persistent deprivation. Fortunately, and almost accidentally, the combined effect of their remittances contribute well over 10 to 12 percent of the gross national product and a substantial share of foreign exchange earnings, equivalent to about one-third to one-fourth of total merchandise exports of the country.
There are two (2) factors that have contributed to the success of our overseas workers –the global demand for their skills and their level of English proficiency. These, we can attribute to past investments in education. Yet today, the investments in the public education sector has constricted due to fiscal pressures. The ultimate result is eroding competitiveness of labor and exacerbating poverty. Student participation and retention rates are quite low and continue to fall. And the poor are disproportionately affected; hence, reducing their chances to break away from poverty.
Aggravating individual household circumstances is the inability of the government to provide basic social services. Investments on health and infrastructure has been observed to have suffered. Again, the consequences for the poor are disproportionately high. Infant and under-five mortality rates for the poorest 20 percent of the whole population of the country are 2.3-2.4 and 2.5-2.8 times higher, respectively, than their counterpart wealthiest 20 percent. In the ARMM area, for example, the average life expectancy is far below the national average, and the mortality rates for infants and mothers are much higher than the national average.
In terms of infrastructure, investments are only about 17 percent of the gross national product, which is considered very low compared to those faster growing Asian economies. Such low investment on infrastructure–for roads, ports and communication facilities, power, water, and other utilities–act as a brake on the growth potential of the country. Without these critical investment items, it is difficult to expect business to locate and grow in the Philippines and contribute in bringing about progress and growth in the ailing economy.
These are just some of the concerns that the new administration has to face, and if I were the chauffeur of the President, I want my President to navigate me along the best route where the journey (for six years) would be both pleasant and rewarding. My President–my lone passenger–should know more than what I know and should have a foresight of what lies ahead, a vision of a better situation, a future that everyone aspires for, and a country that we can all be proud of.
Based on my day-to-day experience as an ordinary citizen and a lowly chauffeur, it is not enough that I have the industry and resolve to make things happen, the skills and ability to do the things I need to do, and my respectable inspirations–my father and my mother–to keep me going, I also need a very capable and affable navigator to show me with utmost clarity the route to the future that we all truly deserve.
Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.
