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steven21 · 09-13-2008, 07:32 PM

What explains Filipino poverty?

There's been many well-worn answers to this question ranging from racist Spanish mythologies of Juan Tamad to the very popular notion of a corrupt and "damaged culture" to the idea that overpopulation has decimated Filipino GDP distribution. Each of these well-worn answers have their problems.

If Filipino culture is so fundamentally debased and promotes laziness and complacency, why do many Filipinos excel when they move out of the Philippines. Even accounting for the fact that labor migration tends to select for the most industrious and ambitious migrants, why do Filipino SECOND and THIRD GENERATION immigrants still do well or even surpass their parents' accomplishments? Moreover, isn't the commonly held myth of Juan Tamad formulated by Spanish colonizers to demonize their native subjects and justify their subjugation?

Even the "overpopulation" theory for Filipino poverty doesn't hold water because there's many countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, etc) that have huge population densities but high GDP. If overpopulation is truly the source of our poverty why wasn't the Philippines "rich" when our population was half or a quarter of what it is now? Aren't Jose Rizal's (and prior novelists') stories filled with the struggles of poor peasants? What about the hundreds of peasant revolts that marked Filipino history during the much less populated Spanish era?

Nowadays, the explanation of "corruption" is viewed by many as the bane of Filipino economic uplift. There's one big problem with this theory--many rich or rapidly growing economies suffer extensively from corruption. For example, South Korea and India (among others) are widely viewed as suffering (or recently suffering) from extensive corruption. Yet their GDPs are constantly rising. In fact, South Korea is one of the richer countries in Asia.

One reason for Filipino poverty that is not discussed enough is ECONOMIC POLICY. Many of the choices we as a democracy made in the past has resulted in the Philippines' chronic economic stagnation, increasing poverty, and shocking disparities in income. Policies that seemed "nationalistic" and put "Filipinos First" actually put our country's development last and allowed a very few to benefit at the expense of the majority. See Why is the Philippines Poor? | philippines economy for more details on this discussion and some possible solutions.

09-13-2008, 07:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
steven21 Member Guro Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 58 Noypiso: 0.00 ++	Why is the Philippines poor? What explains Filipino poverty? There's been many well-worn answers to this question ranging from racist Spanish mythologies of Juan Tamad to the very popular notion of a corrupt and "damaged culture" to the idea that overpopulation has decimated Filipino GDP distribution. Each of these well-worn answers have their problems. If Filipino culture is so fundamentally debased and promotes laziness and complacency, why do many Filipinos excel when they move out of the Philippines. Even accounting for the fact that labor migration tends to select for the most industrious and ambitious migrants, why do Filipino SECOND and THIRD GENERATION immigrants still do well or even surpass their parents' accomplishments? Moreover, isn't the commonly held myth of Juan Tamad formulated by Spanish colonizers to demonize their native subjects and justify their subjugation? Even the "overpopulation" theory for Filipino poverty doesn't hold water because there's many countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, etc) that have huge population densities but high GDP. If overpopulation is truly the source of our poverty why wasn't the Philippines "rich" when our population was half or a quarter of what it is now? Aren't Jose Rizal's (and prior novelists') stories filled with the struggles of poor peasants? What about the hundreds of peasant revolts that marked Filipino history during the much less populated Spanish era? Nowadays, the explanation of "corruption" is viewed by many as the bane of Filipino economic uplift. There's one big problem with this theory--many rich or rapidly growing economies suffer extensively from corruption. For example, South Korea and India (among others) are widely viewed as suffering (or recently suffering) from extensive corruption. Yet their GDPs are constantly rising. In fact, South Korea is one of the richer countries in Asia. One reason for Filipino poverty that is not discussed enough is ECONOMIC POLICY. Many of the choices we as a democracy made in the past has resulted in the Philippines' chronic economic stagnation, increasing poverty, and shocking disparities in income. Policies that seemed "nationalistic" and put "Filipinos First" actually put our country's development last and allowed a very few to benefit at the expense of the majority. See Why is the Philippines Poor? \| philippines economy for more details on this discussion and some possible solutions.