Peter Paul L.

Recabo

SCL

2B-PH

Poverty is a state of being poor, indigence, lack of material things and finances.
Poverty puts people into the lowest level in a society. Poor people, most of the
time, are neglected by the government, shunned by the society and not given
enough opportunities to prosper. They live in a filthy environment, living among a
community of criminals. We can enumerate countless of unpleasant words to
define the effect of poverty, and there are countless of reasons and causes for these.
Poverty remains the central development issue in the Philippines and, despite the
ambitious development goals laid out by the government, the country has not been
able to sustain the economic growth required to reduce poverty to acceptable
levels. I will not say that the community I live in is drowning in poverty, everyone
works here in their own ways, while some have unstable jobs they are working
hard so that they can put food on the table. They might be poor on foreign
standards however, they are not poor in my own perspective. The people in my
community are generally happy and satisfied with their lives. First, there is a
fundamental disconnect between Filipino lites and the poor. The political
leadership in the Philippines has always been drawn from those lites, and those
politicians have traditionally played the role of patrons and benefactors, relying on
the pork barrel and personal/family funds often acquired through corruption to
essentially buy votes. The core principle of democracy - that representatives should
be drawn from those they represent and advocate for the true interests of their
constituents has not been operative. I will not say that the community I live in is
drowning in poverty, everyone works here in their own ways, while some have
unstable jobs they are working hard so that they can put food on the table. They
might be poor on foreign standards however, they are not poor in my own
perspective. The people in my community are generally happy and satisfied with
their lives. I really love the town I live on and the community it houses. Everyone
knows each other and everyone appreciates each persons existence. Muslim or
Christian, black or white, foreign or just pinoy, everyone is welcome here in the
town of Mainit. As of now, I can almost say that my community is nearly
becoming a community of faith, everyone is encouraging each one to be positive in
life, be respectful and be happy. The Philipppines will become a happy home for us
Filipinos if we set aside all the hate and discrimination between ourselves and
yearn for a hopeful future.