POSITION PAPER

Name: Castro, Dhon Aldrin D.

Course, Year and Section: BS Aeronautical Engineering, First Year – Section 2-G2
Subject: SSCI 115 – Art Appreciation
Days/Time: MWF (4:00 pm to 5:00 pm)

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan (On the Canvas of Society)

I. Summary

The documentary entitled “Sa Kambas ng Lipunan” shows the story of poverty and how
marginalized people find hope. The documentary narrates the journey of a painter on where he
gets his inspiration to paint a replica of the “Last Supper,” a known painting by Leonardo Da Vinci
which features Jesus Christ with his disciples having their last feast before he was betrayed by
Judas. In the painting, instead of mimicking the disciples in the original artwork, the painter
decided to replace them with images of poor and starving children eating a meal with Jesus. Most
of the children painted in the artwork were real children whom the painter had a personal
connection with. There were twelve children in the painting, namely Nene, Joyce, Tinay, Itok
Garganera, Emong, Onse, Buknoy, Michael, Dodoy, Jun, Rosell, and Sudan.

All of the children depicted in the painting were victims of poverty. Nene was abandoned
by her mother at a young age. She lives in a cemetery with her Aunt, where she works as a
caretaker of tombs. Joyce on the other hand is a teenage mom who suffers from raising her child
and at the same time finishing her education. Tinay is still a toddler who is starving and is always
untidy. There was also Itok Garganera who is a talented and bright young boy, but due to financial
challenges, he was left with no choice but to rob homes and become a theft. Emong was a
breadwinner at such a young age. He pushes a cart and collects recyclable debris in return for
money. There were also Onse and Michael who work as garbage collectors and scavengers.
Onse was also abandoned by his mother who works as a prostitute. Michael on the other hand
risks his life by jumping on garbage trucks and hiking on a mountain of hazardous trash. Buknoy
begs on the streets just to buy food for his family. If he was not able to bring home food, he was
being beaten up and physically abused by his demanding parents. Dodoy lives under a bridge
with his family as they cannot find an affordable place to live in. The siblings Jun and Rosell were
also informal settlers, wherein they live with their family in a poorly built home standing in an
unauthorized land with the fear that anytime their home can be demolished.

The last child depicted in the painting was Sudan. It was a child character based on the
highly acclaimed and award-winning photograph taken by Kevin Carter. The said photo was shot
during the great famine in Africa. It features a starving and weak child nestling on the ground while
a vulture is waiting for her to be its meal in the corner.

Overall, the documentary shows the reality that most people tend to neglect. It opens the eyes
of the masses to the different faces of poverty in the country. However, regardless of the sad and
enduring challenges many of the marginalized people experience, the documentary also shows
that they have not lost their hope yet. The poor children featured in the film still have dreams that
one day they wish to reach. As long as they dream, there is hope for them to end and change
miserable lives.

II. Issues Involved

In this part of the paper, the following issues that emerged in the case were discussed.

A. Extreme Poverty in the Country

The documentary emphasizes the emerging case of poverty in the country. It shows how
being in the lowest class of society brings consequences that can cause perish and suffering.
Poverty does not only rely on the net income of a family but perhaps on their ability to meet the
basic necessities of living, including food, clothing, education, and shelter. Many who were born
poor end up dying poor as well. This has been a long-term issue in the country, wherein poverty
has been passed from generation to generation.

B. Children Do Not Receive Enough Support From Their Parents

As a parent, it is their obligation to raise their children and provide for their needs.
However, due to extreme poverty, many fail to fulfill this duty and as a result, innocent children
suffer the consequences. As seen in the documentary, most children are starving, does not
receive proper education, and do not have a safe shelter.

C. Child Labor
In the documentary, it can be seen that many were already breadwinners of their families
despite being at a very young age. As a child, they are supposed to have fun and discover the
world and not work to gain income for buying food and basic necessities they need to live. They
shall not be exploited for work and become “money-making” instruments.

D. Children Deprived of Their Rights

Another issue prevalent in the documentary is the children’s deprivation of their own rights.
In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, it includes that every child
shall have the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, an adequate standard of
living, and to be protected from abuse and harm. At their age, there is still a lot for them to explore
and learn only if they were provided with their rights.

E. Some Children Were Misguided

In some cases in the documentary, it can be seen that few children resulted in
wrongdoings just to survive. Due to lack of education and misguidance of their family, some
results in breaking the constitutional law. More so, there are also some who engages on activities
that may cause more harm in their lives. This also is the reason why teenage pregnancy is more
prevalent in the marginalized sector.
III. Findings
After careful analysis, the following are the notable findings concluded.

A. Children Are The Most Vulnerable Victims Of Poverty

All of the marginalized people suffers from poverty. However, it is the children that suffers
the most. They are still innocent and they do not deserve to perish on the consequences of
something that they do not contribute to. Instead of enjoying their day learning in schools, they
have to work and provide for their families. It is unfair that they do not get to enjoy their childhood.

B. The Society Neglects The Vulnerable

Despite the fact that people know cases of poverty in the country, many chooses to act
blind about it and simply neglect it. We know for a fact that it is not our duty as citizens to help
those in need. However, as an act of compassion and kindness, it would be great if individuals
who have the ability to provide assistance helps those in the bottom layers of our society through
big or small contributions.

C. Marginalized People Still Finds Hope Despite Extreme Challenges In Life

Regardless of how hard their lives could be, it can be seen in the documentary that people
who suffers from poverty turn their lives into religion enable to find hope to continue to survive.
This hope keeps them on moving forward and overcoming challenges that arises in their lives.

IV. Recommendations
After thorough investigation, the following are the recommendations based on the information
obtained from the documentary.

1. The Philippine Congress and Senate shall enact laws that will intensify cash assistance
to those who suffer from poverty.
2. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is recommended to increase
the number of beneficiaries of 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program).
3. The Department of Health (DOH) is also recommended to extend its programs on raising
awareness for proper family planning, as it may help in reducing the number of children
that will be born in poor families and avoid teenage pregnancy.
4. Additionally, the DOH is recommended to build programs that will monitor malnutrition in
children and provide them with the assistance that they need.
5. It is also recommended that the Philippine Government shall strengthen the economy by
producing more jobs that cater to local individuals.
6. The Department of Education (DepEd) is also recommended to provide scholarship grants
to those children in need to help them in supporting their education.
7. Different Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are also called upon to maximize their
resources to help poor children by providing them cash assistance or scholarships.
V. References (Related Studies)
The growing number of poor people in the country is alarming. In a report made by the
Philippine Statistics Authority this 2022, the country’s poverty rate is at 18.1% which translates
that about twenty million Filipinos cannot sufficiently meet the basic needs of an individual.
Furthermore, in a study by Reyes et al. (2022), they supported the earlier issue discussed that
children are the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty. They have also added that poverty
impacts directly children’s physical and intellectual growth as many were forced to stop school
and find work or wander the streets to beg. Reyes et al. also claim that poverty in the country is
generated by various reasons, including lack a lack of appropriate skills, inability to control fertility,
and lack of job opportunities.

Poverty brings varying effects on children, some causes children to become more mature
and responsible enable to change their lives. While, more often, children lead on doing wrongful
acts such as skipping school. In accordance with this, a study by Yu and Greever (2014) claims
that poverty creates stressors, specifically (1) economic strain, (2) family conflict, (3) exposure to
discrimination, and (4) other traumatic events, which in return causes a child’s behavior to change.
They added that poverty-related stress can lead to “truancy” and “deviant” behavior. This also
explains why most children exposed to poverty are linked with crime and violence as they grow
up. This idea was also backed by Da Fonseca in 2014, where children who came from poor
families show aggressiveness and depressive behaviors.

Overall, it can be concluded that poverty indeed is a poison that slowly makes the children
victims suffer. Though it is inevitable, some interventions can be done enable to stop its growth
rate. If we rely on the idea of Reyes et al., our country shall fulfill issues on creating more local
jobs, enhancing the education for children, and promoting birth control enable to solve the
problem of poverty.
VI. Bibliography

Da Fonseca. (2014). Eat or Heat? The Effects of Poverty on Children’s Behavior: Ingenta
Connect. Ingentaconnect.com.
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aapd/pd/2014/00000036/00000002/art00007

Philippine Statistics Authority | Republic of the Philippines. (2022). Psa.gov.ph.

https://psa.gov.ph/poverty-press-releases/nid/167972

Reyes, C., Tabuga, A., Asis, R., & Mondez, M. B. (2014). Child Poverty in the Philippines.
In Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps1433.pdf

Yu, M., & Greever, S. (2014). A Literature Review Presented to the.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED564040.pdf

Other Resources Used:

UNICEF. (1989). THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD.
https://www.unicef.org/media/60981/file/convention-rights-child-text-child-friendly-
version.pdf