Elections are over, now comes the hard part

Elections are over and it seems that many Filipinos are now going back to their usual daily grind. Many of us expect that now that we have elected a new set of government leaders many of which are allied with President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, things will continue to look up for our country and all of the social ills such as poverty and high rates of unemployment will suddenly disappear. While electing good leaders is a good start for our country, this alone will not be able to solve the myriad of problems that we currently face.

 

A proof of this is that despite the continued international ratings upgrades that our country has received from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, poverty and the lack of employment opportunities for majority of Filipinos continue to be a problem for the present administration. Many have pointed out that the only people that continue to benefit from our country’s growth are only the upper class of our society while those in the lower middle to lower income classes continue to struggle to make ends meet. This is the reason why having good leaders is not enough, the more important aspect is having even better and more responsible citizens who will also do their own share in uplifting the standard of living of every Filipino. Here are some concrete ways that Filipinos especially those who live comfortable lives can do to contribute towards helping end poverty in our country.

 

1.) Sponsor a scholar through college

 

The reason why many people say that education is the key towards solving poverty is because it enables a person not only to help himself but also his or her whole family. When I started Pathways to Higher Education, a non-profit organization that helps academically-gifted but financially disadvantaged students finish college, I saw for myself what a college degree can do to change the lives of a family. For example, the family of one of our participants used to only earn P150.00 per day which was around P4,000.00 per month which simply wasn’t enough to take care of their day to day needs. Yet, once our scholar was able to finish, he was able to find a good job and earn P20,000.00 per month that enabled him to help send his three other siblings to school.

 

Helping a scholar through college isn’t hard, it can only mean a commitment of P1,000.00 per month which can help cover their transportation, meals and school supplies that can go a long way towards helping a family move out of poverty. Imagine if only a million middle to upper class Filipinos living here and abroad commit to helping a scholar then I am sure that we will be able to make a big dent in our fight against poverty.

 

Want to help a scholar finish college? You can visit the website of Pathways to Higher Education or you can also send an email to info.pathways@gmail.com .

 

2.) Give the gift of health

 

One major reason why many Filipino families continue to live below the poverty line is because despite all the hard work that they put in each day, just one sickness from a family member especially their breadwinner can bury them in debt. This is the reason why our government’s plan for universal health care coverage is very critical in its fight against poverty. If every Filipino family can be enrolled in PhilHealth, this will provide them with the safety net of being able to seek medical assistance for every member of their family when needed without using up their savings or going into debt. This will also enable them to use what they earn for other important expenses such as sending their children to school. Private individuals can get involved by sponsoring an indigent family’s Philhealth coverage and it only costs P1,200 a year or P100.00 a month.

 

Want to give the gift of health? You can visit Project Laan’s website.

 

As President Aquino has said during his inaugural speech, it was people power that brought him to power and it will also be people power that will help him succeed in delivering on the promises he made during his campaign. Three years have passed since then and poverty continues to prevail in our country, hopefully, in his last three years, our country can finally make a dent in its fight against poverty and the only way for us to do that is to practice what we all learned in Nursery or Kindergarten which is to share our blessings with those who have the least.

 

Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com

Follow me at Twitter: twitter.com/harveykeh

 

Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government and is also the Lead Convenor of the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.