Waging the Bigger War:Eradicating Mass Poverty

Dr. Rene E. OfreneoProfessorial Lecturer

University of the Philippines

Eradicating poverty as a State duty

Constitution is quite clear --

Art. II, Sec. 9 provides:

“The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.”

Ang tanong:Nangyayari po ba ito?

Nitong nakaraang 6 na taon?60 taon?

Phl proclaimed Asia’s growth leader,

Yet, mass poverty & joblessness persist GDP ave. growth rate 2010-2015 – 6.2 %

But poverty incidence hardly changed 2006 – 26.6 % of population

2009 – 26.3 % 2012 – 25.2 %

(moreover, if poverty threshold of P52/day/pax raised to P100 or so, every

other Filipino poor)Joblessness also reflected in ff.:

6.1 % unemployed (official)18.5 % underemployed

8.1 % unpaid family workers32.3 % working at less than 40 hours a

week

Mass poverty & joblessness lead to Severe & chronic social inequality!

According to World Bank (in 2011), Bulk of country’s wealth – 76 per cent – went to only 40 Filipino families

This continues today, with only a dozen companies cornering the big-ticket public-private partnership projects in infrastructures

This also reaffirms earlier study of NSO Administrator Tomas Africa that there was no major change in inequality in 1985-2009

1985 – top 1 % got 32% of national income2009 – top 1 % got 30 % of national income1985 – share of bottom 50%: 20%2009 – share of bottom 50 %: 20%

Also, no major change in social inequality from 1960s-2000s

Faces of poverty and IS

“Walong Taon sa Kariton” (8 years in the push cart,

taken in 2012)Kariton Households

along Kalayaan Ave., Quezon City

If you are poor, you are not allowed here

So why is the Constitutional vision and mandate not being fulfilled?

Hindi po naitatayo sa ating bansa ang isang “just and dynamic social order”!

Anong mga dahilan?

Marami pong paliwanag, pero sa patakarang pang-ekonomiya, may dalawang mahahalagang dahilan.

First, the country’s macro-economics is based on trickle-down economics

The macro-economic framework, based on the martial-law development strategy of “labor-intensive export-oriented industrialization” (LIEO) and consolidated in the 1980s and 1990s as “structural adjustment program” (SAP), assumes that growth and jobs would automatically flow from the triple policies of

-- trade/investment liberalization-- deregulation of different economic sectors and -- privatization of government assets,

corporations and servicesThis neo-liberal framework has been in place for over four decades!

SAP continued by Post-EDSA 1 Administrations

Year Program

1986 NEDA crafted a “yellow” Medium-Term Phl Devt Plan celebrating EDSA People Power Revolt and yet, continuing SAP

1990 “Updates” on MTPDP: towards deeper and broader economic liberalization

1992 President Ramos MTPDP call for full liberalization across sectors

1998 President Estrada’s MTPDP continued SAP

2004 President Arroyo’s 2004-2010 MTPDP supported SAP continuity

2011 President Aquino’s PDP maintained same macroeconomic framework

Mga kahinanaan ng LIEO/SAP-EOI neo-liberal modeling

The model simplified economic realities by

simplifying solutions.Una, sabi babaha ang FDI na lilikha ng maraming trabaho.

Di ito nangyari sapagkat pupunta ang FDI kung saan sila higit na kikita (tulad ng China) batay sa kanilang

global value chains.Ikalawa, lalakas daw ang local industry at agriculture.

Di ito nangyari bagkus nagbagsakan sa pagbaha ng mga dayuhang kalakal at unfair trade, particular smuggling.

Ikatlo, magiging efficient daw ang palengke at lipunan. Di ito nangyari sa halip anarkiya ang naghari tulad sa

trapik sapagkat walang maayos na mga plano (urban, land, transport, atbp.

Industries that have collapsed

• Textile industry (from 250+ to 5)• Rubber industry • Foundry industry• Steel industry• Chemicals (organic and inorganic chemicals, fertilizers,

petrochemicals – includes upstream and downstream products, dyeing, tanning and coloring materials)

• Shoes, Hides and Leather (handbags and belts, leather and non-leather goods, travel goods, hat and other headgear)

• Wood and wood articles, pulp and paper• Cement, ceramics, tiles , etc., etc.--------------------Exports too (now you see, now you don’t): Garments ( men’s and women’s wear, boy’s and girl’s

wear, baby wear) – from one million to > 100,000 workers

Toys, fashion accessories, footwear (rubber)

Agriculture stagnated Under SAP’s agricultural deregulation, support for agriculture abandoned in the 1980s

In the 1990s, commitment to WTO led to agricultural tarrification.WTO promise of 500,000 new jobs in agriculture, P3.2 billion net export earnings and P60 billion value added a year never happened. Instead from the mid-1990s to the present, Philippines became a net agricultural importing country. Smuggling, aggravated by corruption, wiped out livelihoods of many farmers engaged in rice, corn, onion, etc.Today, agriculture contributes less than 10 per cent of the country’s GDP and yet, sector still accounts for 1/3 of total employment. Outcomes: widespread poverty in the countryside and rise of the huge army of landless rural poor.

Second, urong-sulong ang pamahalaan sa mga repormang

panglipunan

Ang CARP ay “comprehensive” nang inilagda noong 1988 pero kaagad-agad nilagyan ng mga sagka:CARP evasion schemes tulad ng SDO at leaseback arrangements sa mga plantations, voluntary land transfer (usually to relatives & friends), high (commercial) land compensation, slow implementation, limited support services, corruption sa bureaucracy, atbp.

Nabalaho din ang mga programa sa urban reform, fishery reform, atbp.

Ikatlo, kulang ang decisiveness sa pagsusulong sa social protection para sa lahat

Ilang mga panukala

One --- formal na pong iwanan ng pamahalaan ang neo-liberal paradigm. Total, maraming bansa ay di naman sumusunod sa ganitong framework.

Sa halip, dapat pong itulak ang isang programa para sa – rebuilding ng industrial sector (kailangan dito ang industrial vision and policy na maka-Pilipino at di nakatingala sa mga dayuhan)-- rebuilding ng agricultural sector (kailangan dito ang tunay na repormang agraryo, pag-roll back sa SAP program ng agricultural deregulation at maka-Pilipinong agricultural modernization)

Ilang panukala…

Two -- Ang Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) ay pwede pong imantina bilang isang component ng mas malawak na programa ng poverty reduction at social protection. Sa Brazil, noong panahon ni President Lula, ang CCT ay bahagi ng anti-poverty package na kasama ang rural industrialization, social insurance coverage para sa mahirap, labor law coverage ng mga inpormal at pagtataas ng rural minimum wages, among others.

In short, from social tokenism, aakyat tayo sa empowerment of the poor.

Siyempre, dapat laging magkatambal ang CCT at guaranteed jobs sapagkat walang dignidad ang tao kung walang trabaho.

Ilang …

Ikatlo, ang Social Protection program para sa lahat ay dapat may maliwanag na alokasyon sa badyet sang-ayon sa bagong macro-economic framework.Sa ngayon, 32 per cent lang ang sakop ng social security. Mataas ang health insurance coverage, 92 per cent, pero alam natin limited ang benepisyo sapagkat limited ang health facilities at gastos na pwedeng i-cover ng Philhealth.Dapat tulungan ang mga walang kakayahang magbayad ng insurance premium sa SSS, either may government counterpart or full government subsidy.

Ilang (4) …

Ikaapat, dapat i-review ang privatization program at ang bagong mukha nito sa hugis ng PPP. Bakit walang partnership sa infrastructure development na kasama ang mga magsasaka, manggagawa o maliliit na contractor? Bakit puro big-ticket infras na pinag-aagawan ng isang dosenang malalaking korporasyon? Bakit walang infra development sa mga urban poor and rural poor communities? Bakit pati mga basic services tulad ng ospital at eskwelahan ay ipinapasok sa privatization? Nasaan ang public-poor partnership?

Ang isang dapat isagawa nationwide ay public-poor partnership para isaayos ang mga community centers (multi-purpose) sa lahat ng poor communities.

Ilang (5) …

Ikalima, building the economy requires total mobilization of all sectors of society. Di dapat umaasa lang sa mga malalaking investors, dayuhan man o local.

Mahalaga ang mobilization sa savings at talino ng mga OFWs, mga middle-class families, mga tech-savvy na millennials, mga maliliit na negosyante, mga magsasaka at manggagawang nakakaangat na, atbp. Dito dapat katuwang sa mobilization ang mga paaralan at may kakayahang mamahagi na kaalaman sa paghahanap-buhay. Gayundin ang mga CSO at PO na bumubuo sa tinatawag na ikatlong sector, na pwedeng manguna sa pagtatayo ng solidarity economy na nagtataguyod ng tunay na damayan, bayanihan at tangkilikan ng mga Pilipinong nagmamahal sa kapwa Pilipino.

Ilang (6) …

Ikaanim, full empowerment of the poor by giving them a voice in governanqce.

-- isabatas ang freedom of association for all, formal at informal. Ipasa ang Magna Carta for Workers in the Informal Economy.

-- institutionalize people’s consultation, dialogue and participation in all levels of governance and participation of the people in the implementation of socio-economic programs.

Sa huli, dapat balikan natin ang isa pang probisyon ng Saligang Batas bilang giya:

Art. XII, Sec. 1

“The goals of the national economy are a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth…

“The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of human and natural resources…

“In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop. Private enterprises, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall be encouraged to broaden the base of their ownership.”