The Poverty Paradox: Philippines Case Study

The Poverty Paradox: Philippines Case Study
THE POVERTY PARADOX: PHILIPPINES CASE STUDY
By (name)
Student number
Faculty of
Professor (tutor)
Name of school (university)
Country
Date

The Poverty Paradox: Philippines Case Study
Introduction
In the modern world that we are living today, poverty is one of the subjects that have been
given much attention by both scholars and researchers. This fact maybe because it has caused
tremendous effects around the globe, not only from developing countries but also some areas
in the developed countries. Poverty is about not having enough money for basic needs such as
food clothing and shelter. Poverty has various definitions according to different schools of
thought. However, the baseline is the same; that poverty has distinguishing characteristics
like lack of basic needs hence inability to acquire or even think of secondary needs such as
recreation. Research shows that over 3 billion people in the world live on a daily expenditure
of less than $2.5. The research further shows that more than 50% of the world's population is
living in abject poverty. As a result, it, therefore, becomes imperative to explore the topic.
This research essay is aimed at looking at the paradox of poverty in the Philippines.
Overview of Philippines
Philippine is a tropical country located in the Pacific Ocean. It has 7,107 islands, and it lies in
the western Pacific Ocean. It borders Taiwan to the north and Vietnam to the west. By
surface area, Philippine is believed to be the 73rd largest country in the world having a
population of 78 million people. It is the 7th populous country in Asia and the 13th most
populous in the world. Manila is its capital city, and it hosts most of its educational and
political institutions. Its economy has gotten stronger in the recent years and has remained
dynamic (Datt, 2016). The percentage of people living in abject poverty in the country is
currently 33% of the total population and 75% in some parts in the southern Philippines.

The Poverty Paradox: Philippines Case Study
What are the main causes of poverty in Philippines?
Philippine, like any other countries, has the reasons as to why most of its population is living
below the poverty line in spite of the fact that it is the leading producer of coconuts in the
world. One of these causes is underutilization of natural resources (Agbola, 2017). Philippine
is endowed with natural resources such as copper, gold, and zinc. In fact, its mineral deposits
are the largest in the world. However, steps to utilize these natural resources have not been
taken seriously. It is believed that the value of its mineral deposits is more than USD 849
billion (Mina, 2017). If steps were taken to exploit these natural resources, then the
Philippines would be one of the richest countries, the reason being it will be able to provide
enough food for its residents and more importantly enough job opportunities.
Another major cause of poverty is political instability. Since President Ridrigon Duterte took
office, Philippine has faced a never-ending line of political instability. Political instability
leads to low productivity in the domestic industries and this lead to a decline the country's
Gross Domestic Product and therefore per capita income (Mendoza, 2016). Political
instability also scares away foreign investors who would have come to invest in the country
and contribute to increased job opportunities hence reducing poverty.
Does economic and population growth increase poverty?
Another major cause of poverty in Philippine is a low pace of economic growth. Over the
past 40 years, the country has experienced slow economic growth, and this has increased the
poverty level. Another cause has been lack of poverty reduction strategies. Usually, when a
country realizes that it is experiencing high poverty level, it lays out strategies towards the
reduction of the poverty level (Rola, 2017). However, Philippine's government has been slow
in taking corrective measures. Another main cause has been a weakness in the creation of