Catanduanes State University

College of Education
Virac, Catanduanes

S.S.G.3
Economics, Taxation and Land reform
Analysis of business and economic article

Addressing Poverty

Submitted by;
Emil P. Masagca
Krishna Ponce

Submitted to;
Mr. Richard Pacora
Addressing Poverty

By: Eugenia D. Apostol

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 30,2013 Issue
Summary
To eradicate poverty it not just the Argricultural sector that we
should look at but all of them. Agricultural production actually
increased at the same time it shed a lot of workers. The problem with
the data is that they count somebody who waits for a coconut to fall as
a worker in the agricultural sector.
There are too many people in agriculture which does not equate
to increased productivity. There are too many families working on too
little land which some of them do not even own. What agriculture
needs is infrastructure, irrigation, roads, access to financing, new
methods, equipment, post harvest facilities.
All other sectors especially manufacturing should absorb all the
extra workers in Agriculture. We need to urbanize and industrialize. We
need five to ten more mega cities that would produce industrial
products that improve agriculture production like tractors, pipes, ships,
trucks, research centers, which also creates a population that can
afford to buy the food.
Why are we not including the higher growth rate as contributor
to the poverty we are experiencing right now? See, the growing
population is the real problem of the country. The government forced
to allow the conversion of farm land because of this problem then the
harvest of agricultural products will also decrease which will affect the
farmers and the whole populace. The government should address the
population problem first, the others will follow.
Land conversion to property development, mining industry, tourism
industry in the coastal areas have all been done wrongly affecting the

agriculture sector due to corruption. Smuggling of agricultural products

from China to the detriment of farmers.
Hindi mahirap paunlarin ang agriculture sector kung talagang
gugustuhin. The key to achieving this objective is adding value to
agriculture by processing their products to lengthen shelf-life and
extend the uses of the produce. The Philippines could learn from the
likes of Japan, Korea and Taiwan in this respect. In the case of Taiwan,
many of its agriculture researchers even came from the Philippines. We
still have so many idle lands, especially in the land of Manong Johnny,
which if only properly supported by irrigation, could be put to
productive use. Problem is many of our leaders would rather support
smuggling and gambling as source of quick money.
Agricultural development as the key to eradicating poverty is
what Bernie Villegas has been saying. 70% of the poor are in the rural
areas. Although the current government has increased the budget for
agriculture substantially in 2011 and 2012 and perhaps 2013, this
means that the increase is not enough. It is also likely that the higher
budget increase was not used at all. sayang lang. I was told by a usec
in the agri dept that P 61 billion for agri in 2011 was a big increase
from P 38 bill in 2010 but most of the P 61 billion goes to rice and little
left for the other agri sectors. Ulipur is right in that for us to eradicate
poverty, we need to grow higher than the current rate of 6% and this
must be sustained for many years . A country is developed only after
many years of SUSTAINED HIGH GROWTH RATE.
The general public should not expect this present sitting inutile
and autistic president to care for the agricultural workers being a born
haciendero of Hacienda Luisita. If not for the bold decision of the
Supreme Court under former CJ Corona, these workers in the said
hacienda could still be mired in their precious condition with no hope in
sight for a better life. Again, I reiterate that the country is presently

under the grip of the MADONNA Complex political disease due to the
successive presidency of the cursed mother and child of the Aquinos.

Critique/Reaction/Conclusion
Basically the first paragraph says it all. There are a lot of people
still remain poor. Aquino chose his slogan to gather the Filipino people
but indeed it is just one big embarrassment for his Administration. He
tried to pin his attacks and corruption on Gloria but she's in jail yet
poverty is just getting worse. He should stop his politically motivated
agendas and finally do some real good for the Philippines.
I think the real reason why the government allowed land
conversion from "agricultural" land to "residential" land is not because
of rapid population growth. It is because landlords are using the
loopholes of the CARP by not declaring their lands as "agricultural" but
as "commercial" or "residential". To make the long story short

dahil

sa kaswapangan ng mga naghaharing uri at mga

panginoong may lupa ay naa-undermine ang pagunlad ng mga magsasaka na sa halip na may lupang
sinasaka sa pamamagitan ng reporma ay patuloy na
naghihikahos at naghihirap.

That is because our president

wants to promote the "tuwid na landas" but does not want to

straighten up his clan's feudal past....
Corruption losses could probably cost the government TRILLIONS.
This amount could help create decent full time jobs for millions of
unemployed Filipinos. Import tariffs could finance most of this but BOC
smugglers has pocketed most of the money and used it to support

politicians. Politicians that put them their work at BOC. Must be difficult
for Biazon to serves two masters.
It's terrible that the Philippines has to settle with leaders who are
either corrupt or is lazy and has no idea how to lead and to work hard.
You can say what you want about Europe but they aren't considered a
third world country who's majority of citizen are poverty stricken.

Thee economic pyramid

says it all. the tip, 1% lang
ang mayaman sa bansang ito
at hindi sila purong Pilipino.
there's something wrong
with our system and
distribution of country's
wealth.