Graduate Studies

Master of Arts in Social Science

First Semester 2018-2019

Why Filipinos are Poor?

by: KAMILLE KAY Q. TAMOR, MaEd Social Science Student

“Poverty is the worst form of violence!” – Mahatma Gandhi. Poverty is the

root why violence exists. As well, there are roots of poverty existence. According

to International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, on

October 2016 as mentioned by Gregson (2017), Philippines ranks 68 th in the

poorest countries of the World with 2016 GDP of 7,696 US $ and ranks 46 th in

Asia with 2017 GDP of 1,023 US $. We were left behind by China, Japan and

Korea who were once far below in development. What caused this scenario? I’m

afraid that is this continues; the future Filipino generation will be of great

danger.

There are varied reasons why we Filipinos are poor and why we are left

behind by other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China. To count

those reasons will be never ending. Number one on the list is corruption. The

Philippines is the 101st corrupt country out of 175 countries, according to the

2016 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

Corruption Rank in Philippines averaged 92.09 from 1995 until 2016, reaching

an all-time high of 141 in 2008 and a record low of 36 in 1995. Corruption is

endemic at all levels and agencies of Government. Graft, embezzlement, fraud

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First Semester 2018-2019

and bribery are commonplace. That is the money of the Filipino taxpayer -

money that could be spent on development projects and services. Corruption

happens for a familiar reason: every new regime uses the old mechanisms,

which they had challenged before assuming office, to advance its own interests

rather than the interests of the people at large.

Moreover, we Filipinos are poor because of historical factors from its time

as a Spanish Colony. The Spanish had a predominantly universal way of

running their colonies. They created a mestizo class to control political and

business power. Of course, when the Spanish left those powerful dynastic

families, they had no intention of giving up their power. They not ever enacted

and implement laws for a strong nation state that was free and fair nation and

inclusive for all. On the other hand, they fused their wealth and power and

until this day the Philippines with over 100 million on its population, is

manipulated and used by over 400 dynastic families including the Aquinos and

Marcoses. As the saying goes, “their faces change but the surnames remain.”

The Philippines is humiliated because it was designed to be that way. The same

is true with the former Spanish Colonies in South and Central America.

Likewise, our country is poor because more than 4 in 10 Filipinos who

are poor actually have jobs. They continue to struggle with poverty because

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Master of Arts in Social Science
First Semester 2018-2019

they are employed in poor-quality jobs that pay less than what their

counterparts in manufacturing industries get. But as a growth driver for the

country’s economy, manufacturing lags behind the services sector, including

wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, real

estate, tourism, financial and insurance, health and social work, and public

administration and defense. This structure is a result of the unconventional

development path that the Philippines has followed in seeking to modernize its

old agriculture-based economy by leapfrogging to services without first

establishing a steady foothold in manufacturing that could have turned out

more higher-value products from farm output.

Aside from social, economic and political issues, environmental factors

also contribute towards making the Philippines poor. Many rural Filipinos

depend on the country’s extensive natural resources, particularly for the

fishing and agricultural industries. However, environmental degradation

brought about by climate change and human irresponsibility negatively affects

the lives of rural Filipinos. Also, frequent natural disasters disproportionately

affect poor Filipinos and worsen their already impoverished situation.

Lastly, we Filipinos are poor because of our culture of self-perpetuation

and “yabang”. Look at slum areas. As you pass by their place, most of them do

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Master of Arts in Social Science
First Semester 2018-2019

gossip, alcohol drinking, and gambling. Instead of looking for a moral job, they

tend to waste time by being ‘tambay’. Another cultural factor of poverty is

‘yabang’ mentality. During pay time, most Filipinos spend their money in

extravagance instead of saving and investing. Most Filipinos also adhere this

saying “Kung matataas ngang tao ginagawa nila kahit mali, bakit ako hindi.”

Even if we do know that it’s unlawful to corrupt and do ‘lagay system’ we tend

to do the same mistake for our convenience. These culture and mentality tends

Filipinos to go down the underprivileged ones. The rich became more richer

while the poor became poorer.

It is now high-time to change the course of these endemic mistakes and

reasons of poverty. We can start the change within ourselves, at home and

more bigger social scale. Our real enemy is our selves. The real reasons why we

are poor is because of our selves too. As Jose quoted, “We are our own

enemy. And we must have the courage, the will, to change ourselves.”

References:

Gregson, Jonathan. (2017), The World's Richest and Poorest Countries,

Retrieved on: July 1, 2018, Retrieved from:
https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/worlds-richest-
and-poorest-countries

Jose, Sionil F. (2018), Why Are Filipinos So Poor?, Retrieved on: July 1, 2018,
2018, Retrieved from: https://fitzvillafuerte.com/why-are-filipinos-so-
poor.html

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First Semester 2018-2019

Robertson, Justin (2017), Why is the Philippines poor?, Retrieved on: July 1,
2018, Retrieved from: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Philippines-
poor

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