Too much poverty, too high economic growth

One of the paradoxes that we are facing in our times is that there are too many poor Filipinos at a time of unprecedented high economic growth. Is this then a case of a country growing richer while its people are getting poorer? A poverty incidence of 28 percent in a country that is achieving a high economic growth of 6.7 percent cannot be explained by a simple mind like ours. Is this Charles Dickens'  ''A Tale Of Two Cities"? Or, is this a case of the few business taipans, the industry tycoons, the trade and commercial moguls and the nation's oligarchy getting all the fruits of economic growth while the great majority of the masses continue to bear the heavy burdens of poverty and social injustice.

Since there are now 100 million Filipinos, 28 percent means 28 million poor inhabitants and the 10 percent extremely poor is no less than 10 million jobless, homeless, hungry and angry Pinoys. They are the squatters who are called euphemistically urban poor or informal settlers, living in sub-human, dirty, hot, and congested colonies in the esteros, on top of garbage dumps and in the peripheries of bridges and rivers. Some of them live in public parks and under overpasses or just sleep in the ''asiras'' and in the stairways of buildings and churches. They are the ones who are subjected to forced ejectment and relocation, arrested and jailed for all sorts of crimes. They have no safe drinking water and are unprotected from mosquitoes and all sorts of rodents and insects. They are often exposed to the elements be they rains, floods, typhoons, heat wave or fire.

They are the most vulnerable sectors in our society who are always being used, abused and exploited by businessmen, government officials, trapos and dirty politicians. They are the ones being hired to man picket lines and rallies and attend leftist or rightist demonstrations and mass actions and are subjected to hakots to prop up political rallies. They are supposed to be the beneficiaries of cash transfers and dole-outs. They are also usually employed as casuals, contractuals, project and temporary employees who are hired and fired every end of contract after five months. They are paid pittance by giant mall owners who make them merchandizers, promo girls and sales clerks, as well crews of fast food restaurants. Their employers rake in billions of profits while they are often cheated even their starvation minimum wages.

The Philippines proudly declared that in 2012, its economic growth was 6.7 percent while Thailand had only 6.4, Indonesia 6.2, Malaysia 5.6, Vietnam 5.0 and Singapore a measly 1.2. But the painful truth is that our country's poverty incidence of 28 percent remained constant over the years. It was 28.8 percent in 2006 and 28.6 percent in 2009. The poorest region is the ARMM, with 46.9 percent poverty incidence, followed by 37.5 percent of Region 12 (Cotabato, Sarangani, etc) and then 37.2 percent of Region 8 (Samar and Leyte provinces). The poorest province is Lanao del Sur with 66.9 percent poverty incidence, followed by the following: Apayao, 59.8; Eastern Samar, 59.4; Maguindanao, 57.8; and Zamboanga del Norte, 50.3.

This phenomenon could only mean that the economic growth is not inclusive because it has never translated itself into poverty reduction. The government has demonstrated beyond doubt that it is incapable of spreading the fruits of economic progress to the poor. Big conglomerates announce billions of revenues and profits. The stock exchange has been breaking records left and right. Billionaires pride themselves as among the top in the world. Yet, their own workers are denied decent work and humane conditions of work. Cheap labor fuel economic growth but workers do not get their rightful shares of the trillions of values they have created. They remain extremely poor. They are not included in the economic strides that the country is experiencing.

The prices of food, including rice and corn, continue to rise. The cost of fuel, electricity, water, housing, education and medicines remain prohibitive. Wages remain constant. Real wages continue to shrink. The workers' purchasing power is being attacked and eroded without any safety nets. Decent jobs are scarce. Quality education is unaffordable. The country builds more hotels, casinos, resorts and golf courses but no housing for the poor. Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth are paid by the poor for giving pittance after much red tapes  at times of needs. The SSS and GSIS are anti-poor. The DOLE merely focuses on conducting job fairs and promoting brain drain and outward diaspora of talents. Nurses are working in call centers and teachers go abroad to work as maids.

Yes, the economic growth is impressive. The Philippines is getting richer. But the Filipinos are getting poorer. There is too much prosperity. There is too much poverty. High rise condos are surrounded by squatter colonies. This is indeed, to paraphrase Dickens, the best of times and the worst of times. It's more pun in the Philippines.