Why is the Philippines poor

Once upon a time the Philippines used to be the place to be in Southeast Asia. Our neighbors used to envy our bustling economy, the seeming prosperity and the glimpse of the future that we represented for them.

Years later, after almost 20 years of dictatorship and what felt like a hundred years of corruption, cronyism and seating leaders of varying degrees of greed and ineptitude, the Phillipines is now left eating the dust of our rapidly progressing neighbors.

But is the Philippines really poor? Or are we only poor because it seems more profitable being poor.

"India is not a poor country. It's a poorly managed country", a comment made by William Bissel, managing director of Fabindia, as reported by Times magazine on its January 22, 2010 issue. Furthermore he believes that poverty should not be measured by income but by access to water, food, medicine, education, and legal rights. The same thing could probably be said about the Philippine situation.


The Philippines is a naturally rich country. Water is free flowing, sometimes even over-flowing. The land is capable of providing us with food enough to feed the whole country. What is lacking are hands that are willing to till them. We used to have the best doctors in the world but one by one each of them are seeking green pastures. We used to have good teachers with an admired system of education in the region but that too is deteriorating. And while we do have legal rights on paper, the justice system is vendable and bendable.

All of these requirements the Philippines used to have, the problem is that our government have stagnated and did not move on with the rest of the world. Each of the past incumbents have been involved with one political issue to another that the issue of progress have stunted.

We have the natural resources, we have a people capable of achieving great things, we have a tolerant society free from the blatant racial and gender descriminations that other countries have, we have been the first democratic country in the region and for all the flaws in the system of governance we have the freedom to question things.

While others were still fighting for their women to have the right to vote, our women have already been part and ingrained in the fight for the country's independence. And we've seen one topple a dictatorship.

While others need to export and pay huge amounts for potable water, we only need to fetch ours.

While others could get imprisoned or assassinated by being slightly against their government, we can write blogs and even parody the president.

The Philippines is not poor. We have plenty of resources that are being neglected and abused. There is no respect for what we have. We take it for granted that the land is there, water is there, the sea is there and the people are there.

Progress has become individualized. The Philippines cannot take care of its resources because its government wants to first make sure that its resources is taken cared of. The people have become apathetic. Those who are living on and below poverty line have become desensitized. There doesn't seem to be any great desire to climb out of it. Those who have the drive to climb out do so by climbing completely out of the country.

To qoute once again from William Bissel, the Philippines is not poor. It's a poorly managed country.