Poverty

During my three weeks in Florida, only two items about the Philippines saw print in the state’s largest newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times.

One was an article about the explosion that devastated Glorietta 2. Another was a picture that was published in time for Halloween: shanties built on top of condominium-style paupers’ graves in Navotas.

Sadly, despite rosy economy growth figures, the image of the Philippines overseas remains one of abject poverty and lawlessness.

The image is not entirely off the mark. The daring murder of the head of the Commission on Elections’ legal department last Saturday night in Manila attests to the prevailing lawlessness. As for poverty, the tragedy of Marianeth Amper is testament to the yawning disparity in income distribution in this country.

Our culture, our system of political patronage, substandard public education and the weakness of our institutions guarantee that the miniscule fraction of the population that controls the nation’s wealth will continue getting richer and the poor, like Marianeth’s family, poorer.

Following Marianeth’s death by hanging, the government has showered her family with assistance, with her jobless father openly hoping the gifts will include a house and lot. 

We’ve always been good at dole-outs but poor on creating the environment for decent employment and long-term livelihood opportunities.

Ours is a culture that encourages dependence and mendicancy rather than self-improvement and the virtue of hard work. You hear it in the offended reaction of Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to reports that Marianeth had killed herself because of poverty. No one, the pugnacious mayor stressed, starved in his city; any resident could go to city hall for a free meal.

Politicians thrive in this culture. Dynasties have endured for decades through free meals and many other dole-outs that voters have come to regard as entitlements.

Charity is one of the three great Christian virtues. But there is a difference between sharing one’s blessings with the needy and distributing dole-outs in exchange for political support.

A better way of assisting the needy is by providing the opportunities for long-term financial independence.

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Those opportunities should be provided early in life, starting with education. Proper education is supposed to level the playing field. Providing quality education to all is the ultimate anti-poverty program.

But quality education requires so much more than free primary and secondary schooling. As Marianeth’s story has shown, getting an education entails many other expenditures apart from tuition, which is shouldered by the state.

Marianeth’s needs were basic: money for transportation fare and a pair of shoes. On the eve of her death she reportedly asked her father for P100 for a school project; he had nothing to give.

Compare Marianeth with more fortunate fifth-graders whose parents can buy their kids not just comfortable genuine leather school shoes but also the latest Nike models for physical education as well as Havaianas in different colors, at about P1,000 a pair, for dress-down days. These kids don’t need money for transportation. They are driven to school in family cars and receive allowances big enough to buy more food than their bodies need.

The income disparity and substandard public education have created a widening literacy divide between rich and poor.

Such thoughts can weigh on even young minds. At adolescence, when hormones start kicking in, suicide can become a tantalizing option.

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The poor who survive teenage depression and finish high school must eventually come to grips with the fact that lost opportunities have excluded them from the best paths out of poverty.

Instead they must settle for humbler means of making a living. They become caregivers rather than nurses, or maids rather than licensed caregivers. They become chambermaids rather than managers in hotels overseas, and skilled mechanics rather than engineers.

They would stay in their own land if there were enough decent job opportunities. But generating employment requires attracting sufficient investments. This is infinitely harder than simply giving dole-outs to the poor.

Marianeth’s father, a construction worker, has had nothing to construct for many months.

His wife works in a noodle factory, but only on a part-time basis.

Marianeth drew up a wish list shortly before her death. Different foreign business groups have submitted wish lists to the government several times in the past six years to bring in more investments.

We know what those wish lists include: adequate infrastructure, lower power costs, predictable investment policies, a strong regulatory environment, transparency, the rule of law and a level playing field for local and foreign investors alike. 

Our neighbors can deliver some or all of those requirements; why can’t we? Because they can deliver, our neighbors are getting the investments, and the job opportunities for their people.

When other countries run out of people to fill certain jobs, they import workers. This is where we come in, with our army of maids, caregivers, mechanics and other skilled workers.

Over the years the quality of our workforce overseas has shifted. From nannies, chambermaids and construction workers, we are now sending teachers, engineers, doctors, nurses and other health professionals abroad.

The shift has created crises in public health care, education and several major industries. But any job opportunity, whether in Davao or abroad, would have been heaven-sent for the family of Marianeth Amper. Never mind the bicycle and the new pair or shoes that she wanted. At the very least, with a regular job, Marianeth’s father could have given her enough money for transportation so she could attend classes without fail.

It could have saved a young life from despair and tragedy.