Govt fails to cut poverty despite high growth

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may boast of sustained economic growth since she assumed office nearly a decade ago but she failed her most important challenge: lifting hungry and jobless Filipinos out of poverty. President Arroyo, the country’s second-longest serving president since Ferdinand Marcos, “clearly failed" her mandate of ensuring that more Filipinos live decent lives, economist Solita Collas-Monsod of the University of the Philippines (UP) said. “Although the GDP (gross domestic product) improved at a faster pace but this did not get reflected on incomes. It seems that the increase in income went to everybody else but the poor," said Monsod during the launch of the Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR) 2008/2009. Since 1997, the Philippines’ poverty incidence has been “rising," which Monsod considered a “puzzle." The country has been registering decent growth, averaging five percent, starting in 1990s, added Monsod, a former socioeconomic planning secretary. In 2007, the Philippine economy expanded by 7.2 percent, which is the highest in the region at that time and the country’s highest in three decades. But former Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin said the public expected too much from Mrs. Arroyo since she was catapulted to the presidency through a popular revolt that toppled president Joseph Estrada. “We had a lot more expectations from her after the failed presidency of Mr. Estrada. But in fairness to her, many initiatives and reforms were started," said Boncodin, who teaches public administration at the University of the Philippines. Monsod also warned that the financial crisis’ most adverse impact is that the Philippines may be unable to meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, which seek to halve poverty, among eight others. “The amount of resources that the government will have is affected. There is much greater need, more resources and more financing to fund programs of the government. There's definitely no way for 10 million people to be out of poverty by 2015," said Monsod. The economic crisis will force poor Filipinos to cut back on their health and education spending. and that the government's conditional cash transfer program should be supported. Moreover, since the poor would no longer be opting for a college education, the government should just drop the plan to add two more years in college, Monsod said. Monsod added that the government's meager resources should be focused on improving the basic education system of the Philippines. Next: Mindanao provinces continue to be the poorest areas in RP Mindanao provinces continue to be the poorest areas in RP All five provinces in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao are in the bottom 10 of the Human Development Index (HDI) rankings, which cover 77 provinces and Metro Manila, the PHDR said. The HDI combines measures of life expectancy, school enrollment, literacy and income to allow a broader view of a country's development other than income alone. At the bottom 10 are seven provinces from Mindanao, five of which are from the ARMM. Sulu continues to record lowest HDI, followed by Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Basilan and Lanao del Sur. Their performance is comparable to African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. Most of the 10 lowest-ranked provinces are conflict-ridden. Previous Philippine Human Development Reports, dating back to the mid-1990s, have consistently shown that the bottom 10 provinces in almost every aspect of human development are also the most conflict-ridden. New to the bottom 10 are Eastern Samar and Romblon, and graduating from the bottom 10 in the 2005 rankings are Agusan del Sur, Northern Samar, and Surigao del Sur. The range of the HDI at the bottom 10 is from 0.301 to 0.480. There is a substantial difference in HDI of about 0.28 between the top 10 and the bottom 10. Provinces in Luzon led by Bataan, Benguet, Cavite and Rizal topped the HDI rankings. Completing the top 10 provinces are Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Laguna, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, and Pampanga. Benguet, a province that has a large Indigenous Peoples population, was also the top province in 2005. Their HDI levels range from 0.692 for La Union Norte to 0.787 for Benguet. These provinces also topped the list in 2005 PHDR, with the exception of La Union, which has dislodged Bulacan. The HDI of the top 10 provinces are comparable to those of China, Mauritius, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Peru, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. From 2003 to 2006, the period covered by the 2008/2009 PHDR, HDI levels increased for 51 provinces and declined for 27, including Metro Manila. Benguet, Biliran and Siquijor were cited as the most improved in human development. - GMANews.TV