In the midst of darkness light persist

Poverty and inequality in the Philippines remains a challenge. In almost all of the

places in the Philippines today, inequality—the gap between the rich and the poor—is

quite high and often widening. Poverty has always been present. It is one of the biggest

and most evident problem in the country. Poverty is the state or condition of having little

or no money, goods, or means of support. There are several causes on why a huge

number of people in the Philippines experience poverty. One of which is the inequality in

the income distribution. This unequal income distribution will cause the rich and their

families to get richer and the poor to only get poorer to the point of not being able to

acquire basic necessities. Another cause is the lack of quality education. Since not all

people are able to have the best quality of education, many of them will have a hard

time competing with graduates from other countries in terms of getting a job. The lack of

jobs is another factor on experiencing poverty. Since there is a lack of jobs, it would

increase the number of unemployed people. Unemployed individuals will not be able to

earn a living thus need to depend on others who are employed for basic needs. Also,

overpopulation contributes on why a huge number of people in the country still

experiencing poverty. With a rapidly growing population, it will be hard to accommodate

all the people in the labor force. It will be hard to ensure that every Filipino will be able

to get a job and earn a living. The more people that is unemployed, the more people will

suffer from poverty and have trouble accommodating their basic needs. As the poverty

in the Philippines continue to worsen, the people, mostly in the state of poverty,

experiences consequences. But as bell hooks quoted there is light in darkness you just
have to find it. And the government seems to find the light that will give hope to the

people. Way back in the year 2011 The Philippine Department of Social

Welfare and Development has led in the provision of opportunities for

income-generating activities and livelihood development through the

implementation of the Philippine Sustainable Livelihood Program. The

objective of the Sustainable Livelihood Program is to reduce poverty and

inequality by generating employment among poor households and by moving

highly vulnerable households into sustainable livelihoods and toward

economic stability. It has two tracks:  The micro-enterprise

development track which provides participants with access to funds and

training to set up their own microenterprise. The employment

facilitation track which rovides employable individuals access to locally

available jobs through public-private partnerships. The Pantawid Pamilyang

Pilipino Program (4Ps) conditional cash transfers beneficiaries are the target

population, with about 80% of participants in the program. Other beneficiaries

are poor families identified by the Listahanan national household targeting

registry.

The following key recommendations are highlighted in the policy note:

 Set realistic expectations and refine program goals. The program’s

objectives have increased extensively from its early stages of enablers and
financers of small enterprises to its current objective of transitioning
households from poverty through creating self- and wage employment.
 Review the sustainability of the Seed Capital Fund under the
micro-enterprise development track. Repayment rates under this track is
low in comparison with other microfinance modalities in the country.

 Strengthen referral linkages to other programs. Effective

collaborations of the Sustainable Livelihood Program with other agencies
can significantly improve the efficiency of the program as well as ease the
burden on the program implementers.

 Integrate SLP with other livelihood and active labor market

programs in the country. A government wide inventory of all anti-poverty
and livelihood interventions of programs is needed to assess which ones
can be combined or coordinated to achieve the goals established for a
unique Livelihood Program.

Trully, In the midst of darkness light persist. Providing and expanding access to
employment and livelihood to poor and vulnerable households is a great
help for them. They will be given the opportunity to improve their state
of living and at the same time poverty rate in the country will likely to
decline.