November 17, 2011 Jeanie Hyung
Oratorical Contest : Eradicate Extreme Poverty by Rayoon "Jeanie" Hyung
It was about 5 years ago, when I moved to the Islands of the Philippines. That day was simply amazing. Everyone and everything was mesmerizing. But what stayed as the biggest impact in the head of a 6th grader was not any of the mentioned nor did it take place in that mesmerizing environment. The recurring picture was the deep, unexplainable sorrow in the eyes and the sufferings and pains that were engraved in the palms of the children of my age or even younger, seeking alms from me.
This horrible picture is so prevalent and common in the Philippines that it doesn’t shock one Filipino. After spending one third of my 15 years of life in this country, the instance of poor children begging on the streets became one ordinary event you could see several times a day. But we all should realize that this problem is being ignored and too underestimated. We shouldn’t come to the point of considering it as the way it normally or usually is. Always keep in mind: this is not the part of the way of life nor is it the long lasting culture in the Philippines.
It cannot and should not be the way it is now. We need to bring change, because we can.
The percentage of the world's population living in extreme poverty has halved since 1981. Then what has the Philippines achieved until now? According to the documents from Asian Development Bank, the proportion of the population living below the international poverty line of $1 per day in the Philippines was 11.5% in 2002, a good deal lower than the 19.1% in 1990. The overall poverty incidence rate for households and the population and movements in the national average also indicate good prospects in meeting Goal 1. Both had declined each year by about 1.2 percent and at such a rate of decline, these (poverty incidence rates) would have been reduced by half in 2006.
The economic reports of NEDA states that, because of poverty, there might have been a reduction in households’ capacity to meet their basic food and non-food needs. This might have been the reason why more than half of the households in the country are still not able to meet the nutritional requirements of their members. However, although there had been an improvement in terms of combating malnutrition among children aged 5 and below from 1990 to 2005, as evidenced by a 10 percent drop in its proportion, in 2008, it increased by 1.6 percentage points. This reversal in the trend in malnutrition prevalence among children might be an area of concern.
Then what could the Philippines achieve further to reach this goal? What we could possibly do for now is to have unwavering political will, access to quality public education and jobs especially for the poor guided by a Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Moreover, the Filipino people should advocate through change in both actions and thoughts. The people should be supportive to its government through paying taxes, seeking formal and legitimate jobs, and making the initiative in helping the poor. They also should eradicate crab mentality, nepotism, ningas-kugon attitude, mañana habit, the other unproductive minds, and the mere thought that the gap between the rich and poor is one part of the Filipino culture. The goal of eradicating poverty is a joint effort between the social, political and economic sectors of the country.
In 2003, United Nations cited that, Philippines, along with Cambodia and Laos People’s Democratic Republic, is generally on target, but most other Southeast Asian countries have already met this goal (UN 2003). We also can reach that destination through pro-poor programs. Consequently in the future, let us not make begging a normal, ordinary part of the children’s life. Let us not make children identify the stench of trashes and wastes as the smell of their home.
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기