ANALYSIS
Widespread Hunger Belies
Arroyo’s Growth Claims
The results of the
latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) regarding the incidence
of hunger and poverty are better indicators of the economic situation
instead of the so-called growth statistics released by the government.
BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
Bulatlat
The SWS
survey conducted from September 24 to October 2002 revealed that 2.9
million households, or 16.9 percent of the total 17.4 million households
in the Philippines, have experienced hunger at least once during the last
three months. It also reported that 51 percent consider themselves poor.
The SWS said
that 800,000 households reported suffering “severe hunger” or going hungry
"often" or "always" in the last three months. This represents an increase
of 4.6 percent in September compared to 3.4 percent in June.
About 2.1
million households – an increase to 12.3 percent in September from 10.1
percent in June – reported suffering “moderate hunger” or experiencing it
“only once” or “a few times” in the last three months.
The households
that suffered hunger increased in all areas except in Metro Manila. This
belied the claim of House Deputy Majority Leader Antonio Cerilles of
Zamboanga del Sur that the survey “ignored the positive developments in
the countryside.” In fact, the highest incidence of hunger was in
Mindanao.
Misleading
Other “great
defenders” of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration in Congress claimed that
the recent survey was “misleading.” But how can it be misleading when it
was based on face-to-face interviews with 1,200
statistically-representative households from 240 geographical spots
selected from all regions?
What proves to
be misleading is the 5.5 percent growth in the gross domestic product
(GDP) as claimed by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Even more
outrageous is the supposed increase in the per capita income.
The GDP is
merely a measurement of local output within a certain timeframe. A GDP
growth supposedly reflects economic expansion which then results in more
employment and income for the population. This is known as the
“trickle-down
effect.” But this does not necessarily happen.
Statistics can
be easily manipulated, and economic growth as measured by the GDP does not
automatically lead to more employment and the improvement in living
conditions of the general population. The U.S., for example, is
experiencing economic growth without a corresponding increase in
employment. Worse, U.S. corporations are retrenching workers.
The per capita
income, on the other hand, is computed by dividing the national income by
the total population. Increases in the per capita income do not take into
account disparities in wealth and income, as well as ownership and control
of resources.
Wrong solutions
The Arroyo
administration, through Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, said that it is
addressing hunger and poverty. “We are engaged in a combination of
measures to fight hunger ranging from rolling stores selling food at
socialized prices, emergency employment such as the road improvement
program, working with local governments to identify and serve families at
the hunger threshold, aggressive agricultural extension services to the
poorest farm and fisher folk households, and facilitation of foreign
assistance such as the (United Nations) World Food Program in the conflict
areas of Mindanao.”
But rolling
stores, already few and hardly visible, do not make a difference in the
people’s lives as the prices of basic commodities, services and utilities
continue to rise. Basic government services are becoming scarce as budgets
are reduced and privatization is in full swing. Agricultural extension
services are useless as poor farmers do not own the land they till and are
forced to borrow at usurious rates for farm inputs.
Rep. Federico
Sandoval II (LP, Malabon-Navotas) said that the government was bent on
pursuing its agriculture programs to “provide enough food for everyone and
ensure that agriculture products reach the market in the most efficient
way.” But with land use and crop conversion schemes, agricultural
production is increasingly being geared toward cash crop production
instead of agricultural outputs like rice that the people need. In fact,
from being a net exporter of rice, the Filipino people’s staple food, the
country is now a net importer of rice and other staples.
House Majority
Leader Prospero Nograles said that President Arroyo’s “super region”
projects should be strengthened, especially in Mindanao, to address hunger
and poverty. He added that in Mindanao there is plenty of land to plant
rice, vegetables and fruits.
However, the
current problem of hunger in the country is not caused by the lack of
available food. It is primarily rooted in the inability of the majority of
the population to buy food. It is not caused by the dearth of arable land
to plant food crops. It may be traced to the concentration of land to a
few big landlords and corporations and the landlessness of the peasant
majority. Hunger is not caused by the lack in “development projects.” It
is due to the displacement of peasants and indigenous peoples in the name
of development.
The prevalence
of hunger and poverty is not due to the Filipino workers’ “picky” attitude
when it comes to jobs. It is because the economy does not generate enough
jobs for workers in the first place. In addition, majority of those
unemployed and underemployed do not qualify for the few salaried jobs
available, such as in call centers, medical transcription, animation and
the like.
Sandoval is
asking the Filipinos to be patient. But they have been patient for so
long. The percentage of households experiencing hunger has been in
double-digit levels since the third quarter of 2004. And things are not
getting any better. They are getting worse.
High farm input
prices, depressed farm gate prices and increased importation of
agricultural products have led to more farm closures and bankruptcies of
farmers. The intensification of land use and crop conversion schemes and
the expansion of operations of mining and agro-industrial firms are
causing more displacements and landlessness. Local manufacturing
establishments are closing down because of import liberalization. In fact,
closures have increased by 50 percent from 2004 to 2005.
Things are
getting worse not in spite of but because of the economic program of
privatization, liberalization, and deregulation of the Arroyo
administration. Ironically, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led last
October 16 a nationwide simultaneous flag-raising ceremony at Malacanang
to signify the country’s participation in the campaign of the United
Nations to “make poverty history by 2015.”
How can the
Macapagal-Arroyo administration combat poverty when it is implementing a
development program that worsens what is being addressed? Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.