A life on the line: Poverty in the Philippines

By: Wencel Menard T. De Leos

           Poverty is defined as the state of having insufficient money to live at a standard comfortable to others and is an immensely critical problem of the Philippines that should be addressed immediately. According to the National Statistical Coordination Board's data that 27.9% of the population fell below poverty line in the first semester of the year 2012 and still increasing over the years.

             Poverty and crimes have a very close relationship. The reason people commit these said crimes is because of poverty. They are forcing themselves to find ways to survive even if it means breaking the law.

          Children's life is always at stake, in their cases, they are forced to collect garbage which contains many deadly and hazardous materials that they can either re use or sell to the junk shops. Some are being forced by their irresponsible families to go to the streets to beg money for them.

       Research study shows that the causes of poverties are the lack of education, overpopulation, the changing trends in the country's economy, unemployment, lack of job opportunities, and disasters. Overpopulation is the worst cause of poverty because not only does it worsen the cause and effects poverty, it makes poverty harder to solve.

           Every day we see the results of poverty in our country. Even as a student, I can see these horrendous effects. During our lunch break, I see people lying on the cold dirty ground begging for food or money just so that they can survive the day and they repeat this process every day.

         Some blame the country's economy for the cause of poverty, some blame the lack of educat ion or even overpopulation, but unfortunately in the end all they can do is blame others. When will we, the citizens of the Philippines, help resolve this problem?