Reports of the country's economy has been positive.Manila Bulletin reported: "Exceeding analysts’ expectations, the Philippine economy grew 7.1% in the third quarter of 2012, the highest in Southeast Asia and second highest in Asia, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported on November 28, 2012. The growth resulted in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanding by 6.5% in the first nine months, above the target range of 5-6%. It was the highest under the Aquino Administration, driven mainly by services sector."
The issue, however, is not just about growth but also about distribution of wealth. The Aquino administration has been trying to remedy the situation with its 4Ps program, a band-aid solution to the problem of poverty of millions of Filipinos both in rural and urban centers.
Not waiting for the enlargement of the national pie of economic surpluses and for it to trickle down to the poor, the Aquino government distributes money as dole-outs to the country's poorest of the poor. The problem has been in the implementation of the program marked by wrong beneficiaries, manipulation by local politicians, exploitation by lending firms, etc.
Instead of alleviating poverty, in several instances it has exacerbated it. Lending firms accept as guarantees the beneficiaries' 4Ps receivables for loans used by the poor to buy television sets, pay debts, and whatever they need the money for. As a result, children who are in school as precondition for the 4Ps program are the ones suffering. Some parents are unable to support their children in school who are made to attend classes without food to eat during recess or lunch.
The Aquino government can learn from the purok system of San Francisco Camotes on grassroots poverty alleviation and micro-finance management at the bottom if it sincerely wants to help the poor.
Growth without benefits to the poor is meaningless. The government's distributive measure is good but it's short-term solution and defective in its implementation.
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