SY, Ahcy Mari P.

Economic Development
BSA 2-12 Module Exercises
Chapter 1: Basic Concepts National Income and Output
Review Questions:
1. Cite five (5) major issues of economic development in the world today.
Poor Education Systems
This reflects how unemployment rate keeps on increasing day by day that is
deeply rooted in poor education systems. According to Trading Economics, the
leading countries with high unemployment rate are Bosnia and Herzegovina with
34.67%, Namibia with 33.4%, Angola with 32.7%, Nigeria with 27.1% and
Palestine with 26.6%. To give an example, Nigeria ranks 124th in global
education system, which means that there are 123 countries that have better
education than they do. This basically explains how education impacts the growth
of the economy as a whole; with proper education, there will be no
unemployment, and no poverty. If people are being educated enough with the use
of their taxes, they wouldn’t be seeking for jobs in different countries just to get
by in life.
Poor Health and Sanitation
Just by looking at the state of the world in 2020, it’s really evident how many
countries lack in health and sanitation. Starting from the budget, up to the
guidelines. With COVID-19, a lot of countries borrowed money from the World
Bank just to give proper care to the nation; with treatments, facilities, financial
assistance, security, and more. But would this happen if we are financially and
physically prepared? Would this happen, if people were educated enough to
understand how important health is? Through seminars and conferences led by
public health professionals to avoid these instances to happen?
Countries like Australia and Canada have free health care system, which helps
fellowmen to have access to quality health assistance without worrying about the
bills and treatments. In the Philippines, people don’t care about insurances,
because they’re not knowledgeable enough on how these things work. But if they
do know that insurance is used to save them from spending a lot of money in
medical treatments, applications will come in left and right.
Aside from that, sanitation is also a factor. As seen in Africa, India, Pakistan,
Philippines, and more; people live in the slums; with unsanitary surroundings and
crowded communities. Obviously, this won’t work really well when a disease
starts to spread like wildfire. If only funds are allocated wisely to give these
people proper housing and assistance for them to start a new life and find new
opportunities, they won’t stay and endure this kind of environment. Aside from
slums, pollution is also a great factor, in fact, it’s the most influential factor.
Respiratory diseases are connected to the air we breathe, and with factories and
cars omitting greenhouse gases, it isn’t surprising that people who suffer from
lung cancer keep on increasing in quantity. As of this moment, Hungary ranks top
in lung cancer rate with 51.6%; and according to ics.uci.edu, “Currently, the main
contributors to Hungary's air pollution are car emissions and electric power
plants. They emit dangerous amounts of sulfur-dioxide into the air by burning
high-sulfur coals, diesel, and other sulfur-containing fuels.” Advancements in
technology greatly affects the condition of our ozone layer, that is why, in my
opinion, the government should fund research studies on how to accumulate
energy without the omission of harmful substances to have cleaner energy, and a
safer environment for all.
High Economic Poverty
This problem hasn’t been fixed despite years of trying. Due to the pandemic,
economic poverty was projected to increase even more for the next 20 years. With
the damages it brought; loss of jobs, drop of economies, national loans, and more.
High economic poverty will stop the nation from growing generally, leading to
more problems like hunger, unemployment, poor education systems, poor health
care, and more. These issues are connected with one another that shall be solved
through proper allocation of resources.
Hunger
Third-world countries experience this even worse. Just in the Philippines, you can
see how many families suffer from hunger every single day. Their kids are
malnourished, because of lack of nutrients coming from nutritious foods replaced
by cup noodles, sardines, eggs, and more pre-packed goods filled with additives
and preservatives. Clearly, these are not enough to supply them with proper
vitamins and minerals, they need real food and supplements. With hunger
lingering around the place, poor mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and physical
health shall arise.
According to Our World in Data, “820 million people globally are
undernourished. 22% of children younger than five are 'stunted' – they are
significantly shorter than the average for their age, as a consequence of poor
nutrition or repeated infection. 9% of the world population – around 697 million
people – are severely food insecure.”
High Mortality Rates
Again, relating to COVID-19, mortality rate arises together with fatalities brought
by natural calamities; wildfire, typhoons, earthquakes and more. These are
inevitable, but we can lower our chances of death by being prepared by allocating
funds for disaster and pandemic preparedness. We won’t feel its impact that
 much, because people have sufficient knowledge regarding these matters with the
help of programs explaining the dangers of calamities and communicable
diseases.
2. ‘What matters for growth is not so much the rate of investment but the efficiency with
which it is used and the policy environment in which it takes place.’ Discuss this
statement using relevant data and literature relating to at least two developing countries.
The statement simply tells us that no matter how big or small your investments
are, if it’s under poor governance and policy, it’s going nowhere. It highlights the
importance of efficient allocation and priorities in which the governing bodies
were obligated to plan and assess every aspect before coming up with a final
decision to avoid inefficient projects and programs for the citizens.
China is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, garnering $8,123
GDP per capita, has a growth average of 9.5% in 2018, and has an annual rate
change of 6.6% based on a 2018-report. This is because they invested their funds
in manufacturing, merchandising, and trading where they found partnership with
United States and other countries to supply their goods and services. Innovation
became their ally, which made their imports from China increase in significant
numbers. With their huge population, it’s not that hard for them to invest
manpower on making products that shall be exported in different countries, just
like in the Philippines, where we always see a “made in China” label. It’s easy to
make fun of these products, because sometime they’re defective, but that’s how
China grew their community into what it is now. An estimated of 800 million
people were saved from property, because of this smart strategy that shall bring
their country to the top in future years to come.
Chile is another country that performs well in GDP, garnering $13,576 per capita,
has an annual change of 4.0% on 2018. They used the macroeconomic
framework, and according to the World Bank, it “seeks consistency of policy
objectives: real GDP growth, inflation, external viability, availability of foreign
exchange and credit, financial programming: undertaken to correct imbalances:
domestic and external. Reflected in excess aggregate demand, inflation, BOP
disequilibrium, Expansionary fiscal policies are typically behind these
imbalances. It’s Mainly Fiscal (IMF). Credit creation to finance budget deficit
causes a Bop disequilibrium, financial programming allows estimation of the
economy’s resource envelope, dynamic considerations: the fiscal envelope over
time.” Basically, their goal is to achieve equilibrium in the money market
concerning supply and demand. The total credit of the nation will be split between
the government and private sector to attain consistency in inflation, foreign
reserves or exchange rate, and their overall growth including GDP. With this
strategy Chile reduced poverty by 26.3% from 2000 to 2017.
3. Why did so many countries in sub-Saharan Africa experience economic stagnation in the
1980s and 1990s? Is there any evidence of recovery in the last decade?
According the study, “Promoting Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa Learning What
Works” by Anupam Basu, Evangelos A. Calamitsis, Dhaneshwar Ghura, “Both
domestic and external factors contributed to sub-Saharan Africa's poor overall
economic performance in the 1980s and early 1990s. Key constraints to growth
included inappropriate economic policies, inadequate human capital development,
and low levels of private investment.” However, from the same study, in 1994
significant changes happened that lead to the slow growth of sub-Saharan Africa
with the implementation of, “implementation of sound macroeconomic and
structural policies, often in the context of comprehensive adjustment and reform
programs supported by the IMF and the World Bank.”
They learned from the strategies of different countries, and these lessons lead
them to their goal – to slowly develop their countries to generate national income
and slowly free themselves from debts brought by previous conflicts.
4. The rapid economic growth of China and India in the last twenty years owes much to the
size of their economies, so their experience cannot be replicated in smaller economies.’
Population is undeniably a great factor in the development of a nation, yes, what
China and India did would be hard to replicate. China became successful in the
field of manufacturing and merchandising, and became one of the fastest-growing
developing countries in the world, due to its exports in various partnered countries
like United States of America. Their strategy focused on manpower instead of
value of investment, which in my opinion is more efficient, because with
manpower, they won’t be needing to invest any money, aside from the salaries of
people who give their services. It’s like a business where you won’t invest any
penny. On the other hand, India is dominating the field of Business Process
Outsourcing or BPO Industries with 350,000 call center agents way back 2015,
and still counting. They even ranked 4th based on the 2016-article about the Top
20 Countries for Foreign Direct Investment by Call Center and Back Office
Operations written by King White; where United Kingdom ranked 1st. Based on
the report made by India Brank Equity Foundation or IBEF, “Around 12 million
jobs in a year were created in India during 2015-19,” “India improved its ranking
in World Bank's Doing Business Report by 14 spots over last year and was ranked
63 among 190 countries in the 2020 edition of the report,” and “India is expected
to have 100,000 start-ups by 2025, which will create employment for 3.25 million
people and generate US$ 500 billion in value as per Mr T V Mohan Das Pai,
Chairman, Manipal Global Education.” There were many factors mentioned, but
these are the most significant among all that relates to the topic.
Unfortunately, this economic strategy shall be hard to replicate, especially for
significantly small countries, not to mention small lands, in terms of
 supplementing everyone with their needs, starting from food to housing. With no
sufficient space for them to live in, it’s going to be hard to sustain their living. In
my opinion, this tactic is only applicable to countries with huge territories,
because if small countries try to apply this, this shall hurt their economy.
5. What is the relation between economic growth and economic development?
In my opinion, they have a direct relationship with one another; if economic
growth increases, economic development shall follow. However, economic
development and growth are dependent on the strategies implemented by the
ruling government together with economic advisers on how to create a sustainable
economy, which can generate national income that shall not only supply the
counties’ needs, but also help in the development of the various sectors. With
proper economic strategies, countries will be able to achieve economic growth
and development year after year.
Student Exercise / Assessment: Critique the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022
The Duterte Administration’s crafted its medium-term development plan. It aims to contribute to
the overall goal of achieving Ambisyon Natin 2040, the Philippine government’s long-term plan
to improve the lives of many Filipinos and bring to life our collective vision of a “Matatag,
Maginhawa, at Panatag na Buhay para sa Lahat.” As a group, read the framework of PDP and
critique its contents. In particular, use the following guide questions to write down your critical
analysis essay:
 What is the main goal of PDP 2017-2022?
 How does it view development and quality living for Filipinos?
 How does the development plan address continuing problems on poverty and inequality
in the country? Assess if these policies and programs are adequate to tackle the problem;
discuss why is it adequate, or why is it enough?
 Based on what you’ve learned so far in class and your personal observations, how should
we frame our development plans?
Part 2: Growth and Development Theories
Review Questions:
1. What is the real meaning of Development?
According to Todaro and Smith, “development is the process of improving the
quality of all human lives and capabilities by raising people’s levels of living,
self-esteem, and freedom.”
In my own understanding, I can define development as an on-going process of
change, in terms of people’s standard of living, and because of globalization,
people start to have an increasing lifestyle, brought about by foreign influence,
that needs to be supported by their income as well as the economy that they live
 in. Without development, citizens will be stuck in their original state with no
chance of improvement.
2. Which are the most relevant theories of development at present time?
For me, the most relevant theory I have read is the Chenery model, which
characterized development by:
1. Shift from agriculture to industrial production.
2. Steady accumulation of physical and human capital.
3. Change in consumer demands from emphasis on food and basic necessities to
desires for diverse manufactured goods and services.
4. Growth of cities and urban industries as people migrate from farms and small
towns.
5. Decline in family size and overall population growth as children lose their
economic value and parents.
First, Philippines has passed agriculture and now mainly focuses on developing
the industrial sector of the country, which is very evident when you take a look at
numerous infrastructures built around the state. New skyways, airports, buildings,
subdivisions, and many more.
Many Filipinos leave the country and travel abroad to get a job, mainly because of
lack of job opportunities in the Philippines together with low salaries. We have
already achieved the steady accumulation of physical and human capital, and now
we’re experiencing surplus, which is beneficial to foreign countries. Because of
globalization, Filipinos had access to foreign influences that made them demand
for imported goods starting from basic necessities like clothes, up to luxuries such
as gadgets and jewelries.
We often see this in movies and telenovelas, and this is real life. Many people
migrate from their respective provinces to the cities to find a decent job, hoping
that it will save them from poverty. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for all, some
of them get stuck in minimum wage jobs, because of unreachable qualifications
and lack of education.
Lastly, in my preference, today’s generation became smarter in terms of planning
their future. Sure, you can see lots of teenage girls who get pregnant in an early
age, but they are only a small part of today’s youth. Most of us think of
prioritizing our careers instead of raising children in the future, not only because
we want to, but also because we see it as a practical way of living. To be honest,
even I am not sure if I want to raise my future kids in this society, wherein
injustice and oppression prevail; I don’t want the future generation to suffer what
Kian Delos Santos and Baby River did, and I know most of the youth think so too.
 In addition, because of the growing industry of technology, manpower is reduced
little by little and have been replaced by machineries that give convenience with
less cost.
3. Is underdevelopment a domestic or internally induced phenomenon?
According to PPE Sydney, the concept of underdevelopment is an externally
induced phenomenon. I couldn’t agree more, because the only way that you can
distinguish that a country is underdeveloped is by comparing it to more developed
countries. If all nations have the same development level, there’s no such thing as
an underdeveloped one.
4. Explain the implication of extreme gap between rich and poor countries in the world?
In my opinion, this boils down to poor government leadership. They mishandle
the country’s resources, which greatly affects citizens, especially the marginalized
community, resulting to an overall decreased in opportunities. Instead of
providing them with basic necessities like free medical treatments, and financial
support, these funds are allocated elsewhere.
Other factors include innovation and education, which are also rooted in proper
allocation of resources. United States of America is a first-world country, mainly
because of their exports, especially when it comes to technology. They are
responsible for the creation of Apple, Windows, Facebook, Instagram, and
Google, so it’s only quite fitting that they’re dominating the market.
5. Identify the different sources of national and international economic growth?
Human Resources which pertains to laborers or manpower.
 Natural Resources classified as land, oil and gas, forests, water, and
mineral resources.
 Capital Formation which are structure in the form of roads, power plants,
equipment, and stock inventories where government funds go.
 Technological Change and Innovation which is one of the drivers of
economic growth.
6. Give at least 1 sustainable development goal.
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Our country faces a lot of challenges, but the one that strikes us the most is
poverty. We can resolve this by investing government funds in industries that will
be beneficial for the growth of the economy, instead of allocating it to partnership
between countries. Projects must include the improvement of the agricultural
sector to increase the quality of local products and attract foreign customers to
import more of our locally-grown roots and crops to their respective lands. With
this, our income as a country will increase, and citizens shall have enough
 opportunities and sufficient income, so they won’t be needing to leave their
homes in exchange of a job in an unfamiliar land.

Chapter 2: Population
Student Exercises & Assessment
1. Provide the data of the following countries for 2019:
Countries GDP Per Capita Fertility Rate Mortality Rate Life Expectancy
New Zealand $42,084 1.889 .7% 82.21 years
Philippines $3,485 2.555 .6% 71.16 years
China $10,262 1.693 .7% 76.79 years
United States $65,281 1.778 .7% 78.87 years
Singapore $65,233 1.216 .5% 83.6 years
Thailand $7,808 1.520 .78% 77.01 years
Vietnam $2,715 2.049 .6% 75.37 years
Based on the data, in terms of GDP Per Capita, United States has the highest
among seven countries with $65,281 equivalent to 3,139,689.70 Philippine pesos,
while Vietnam has the lowest with $2,715 equivalent to 130,577.93 Philippine
pesos.
On the other hand, based on Fertility Rate, Philippines has the highest number
with 2.555 and Singapore has the lowest with 1.216.
Looking at the fourth column, Mortality Rate, Thailand has the highest with .78%,
having 7.8 deaths in a thousand, and Philippines and Vietnam having the lowest
with .6%, both having 6 deaths per 1,000 people.
Lastly, based on Life Expectancy, Singapore has the highest with 83.6 years, and
Philippines having the lowest with 71.16 years.
What I can infer from the data given is the fact that developed countries like
United States, New Zealand, and Singapore give better quality lives to their
citizens and it’s really evident on these statistics. It’s because they’re performing
economically well, and able to give their citizens what they need, in terms of
health care, education, and any other assistance citizens need.
Unfortunately, in the Philippines, citizens are the least priority. The government
and justice system are so unfair; they’re only serving the rich people, and leaving
 poor communities die of hunger and abuse. These things are needed to be worked
on in order to improve these numbers as well as the lives of Filipino citizens.
2. What is the expected population of China and India in 2050? What do you infer from
these comparative data?
Based on Wikipedia’s Projections of population growth, by 2050 China and India
were projected to have a population of 1,402 and 1,639 million respectively.
Evidently, India has a greater population compared to China. Considering the
difference between the two in terms of economic growth and capacity, both have
very different statuses, but very close when it comes to population. As we
compare the two, based on my observations, China’s edge is the business industry
by giving services to the biggest companies in the world, while India’s edge is
with technology. Despite their lacking, their citizens are really knowledgeable
about the internet and how to control it to their favor. They may be very different,
but they both maximize their manpower.
3. Is population growth a problem?
It depends on the performance of a country. If the country has an impeccable
economic performance, that can support its men and lead them to a quality life,
population is never a problem. On the other hand, if a nation is full of corruption,
injustices, and abuse, growing in population is a huge issue.
Like in the Philippines, our government obviously can’t provide us a better life,
and yet teenage pregnancy is still relevant. Leaders of this country lack in many
ways: educating Filipinos of the importance of family planning and safe sex,
encouraging Filipinos to engage with business, instead of employment, improving
the quality of education, maximizing people’s taxes with double or triple returns,
and giving their countrymen what they deserve, to name a few.
With these problems, Philippines becomes a country that isn’t safe for kids,
including adults, especially with an abusive government on the side – killing
innocent lives, and saving disgusting pigs and making them rulers of the country
in many regimes.
To conclude, the impact of the population depends on the country itself. Yes, it’s
also important to consider the size of the land where they stand, but good
governance is the main factor to distinguish whether or not it’s a problem.
4. How can you encourage people in developing to have fewer children?
Through better comprehension. I do believe that people will understand deeply
how important family planning is when it’s explained thoroughly in the language
they can comprehend, and soon they will be able to apply it in real life. It’s better
to have these things explained as early as possible, and not to be considered as a
taboo. The more we hide and try to cover these conversations from young minds,
 the harder for them to understand how important it is. If we show them real
statistics of how many children are left abandoned on the streets and orphanages,
they’ll have a better grasp on how this impacts us as a developing country.
Education and social awareness are the keys, and I think most developing
countries fail to shed some light into this conversation. If we succeed on
spreading this message, it won’t be hard for us to take the step towards economic
independence.
Along with awareness, we also need better healthcare, with this, I mean better
birth control methods. I know most Filipinos are still not open about abortion, but
I think we need to, because most women get unwanted pregnancies, and they have
the right to decide what kind of life they want to live in. They are not supposed to
be dictated by social constructs of how and when they’re supposed to have a
child; they need to decide for themselves. I, as a woman, don’t want to carry
someone that’s made out of abuse and trauma – I don’t want to remember what
I’ve been through every time I look at the child’s face. It’s not only unfair to me,
but also for her or him too.
5. Should the government try to limit population growth, how? What are effective strategies
to limit population growth?
As I’ve mentioned earlier, we need better awareness and healthcare. We can start
spreading family planning starting at home and school. To be more specific, the
Department of Education should include family planning as a subject – way back,
when my sister was in the 6 th grade, I was asked by my dad to attend a seminar,
intended for parents. Apparently, it’s about family planning, I didn’t realize its
implications, until now. Why would they explain family planning to parents?
People who already have kids and a family of their own. There’s nothing left to
plan. This might be the reason why many Filipinos still don’t know how to set
appropriate goals in making a family. As soon as kids have developed the
capacity to comprehend, this must be tackled immediately, so when they reached
the age where they’re ready to build a family of their own, they already know
what to do and what not to do.
Kids need to know its importance as early as possible, they should be hearing this
before they take a step towards to high school, so they won’t make unplanned
decisions with unexpected outcomes, especially where puberty starts to kick in.
Many lives have been turned upside-down, because of unwanted pregnancy. I’ve
heard so many stories about teenagers, who accepted the role of being a mother
and a father at a very young age. I think we need to start thinking and
implementing solutions regarding this matter, so future generations won’t have to
suffer more disastrous consequences.
Chapter 3: Unemployment & Inflation
Review Questions:
 Define employment and unemployment.
According to the dictionary, employment is the condition of having paid work,
while unemployment is the complete opposite. If I would have to define
employment in my own words, I have to say that it’s a status a person needs in
order to survive. Employment is something necessary for one’s living, because
one is able to address his or her needs with money. And where can we get money?
From work, both legal and illegal.
Employment is just a word, with a very short definition, but its absence generates
millions of problems. There’s crime, poverty, starvation, death, and more. An
unemployed person will do anything just to put something in his or her stomach,
even if it means killing or stealing from other people.
To give a better grasp, in the Philippines, a developing country, 90 out of 100,000
people commit crime on 2018. Others might think that it’s an insignificant value,
but if you look at the real numbers, there are 960,300 criminals out of 106.7
million people. Just imagine how many families have been victimized by these
unprivileged people. Malaysia, also a developing country, 273.8 out of 100,000
people commit crime based on a report on 2018, that’s 85,131 criminals out of
31.53 million people. These figures are quite shocking, because both are
developing countries, but Philippines has a higher crime rate and higher
population. Compared to Malaysia’s size in square miles, 329,847 km², we can
say that Philippines, 300,000 km², is overpopulated, and the crime rate is directly
related to it.
 Determine and critically analyze the causes of unemployment.
Overpopulation is one of the causes of unemployment; with adequate job
vacancies, the government fails to give every single citizen a decent-paying job
that can support their families. There’s a certain number of job opportunities
available in the country, and it can’t address everyone. As citizens, we must be
aware of our country’s status, before deciding on making a family, we must ask
ourselves first, “are we going to be able to support them?” “is our country capable
of generating jobs for them in the future?” “will this be a safe and friendly
environment for them?” Honestly, at my age, I have been thinking about my kids’
future, if I decided to have one, and if I am willing to take the risk with their lives
being compromised. Especially with the present situation of our government.
With the population growing year by year, it’s going to be hard to distribute such
resources to make sure everybody gets reached. If only our population is
proportionate to the available opportunities, we won’t have unemployment issues.
Lack of education is also an issue that needs to be addressed to avoid
unemployment. If a country is able to generate many job opportunities, but only
 few citizens are qualified to take the position, unemployment is still existent. In
my opinion, countries with high unemployment rate fail to realize how important
education is. Like here in the Philippines, college dropouts like to argue about the
success Bill Gates and Steve Jobs attained without a college diploma. In my
defense, these two had revolutionary ideas and brilliant minds who took
technology to the next level; and not all dropouts possess the same quality of
intelligence. Honestly, most of them are just too lazy to pursue school, and end up
building a family at a young age, and gets stuck in a low-paying job.
Most people in the provinces have what it takes to graduate – they’re industrious,
persistent, and they have dreams, unfortunately they’re not given enough
resources to continue studying. Some of them need to climb mountains, and swim
rivers just to go to school – and they’re doing this every single day. Education is
not a luxury only available to rich people. Education is a right, and every citizen
deserves to have quality education to reach their life-long dreams and live life
however they want. This problem is both on the government and citizen’s fault; if
only the government is wise enough to prioritize important matters, and if only
citizens are more willing to make a difference, we could be enjoying a world
where no children would go hungry and no family would suffer poverty.
 What are possible measures to improve employment conditions in developing countries?
Better education system. If people had quality education, it won’t be too hard for
them to find a career that they want to pursue for a lifetime. As early as pre-
school, students may figure out their passions, and with appropriate mentoring,
they’d be able to hone their skills needed for the job they want. Only few schools
adapt the 21st century skills framework to address every student’s learning styles;
and I think Philippines and other developing countries should apply this on every
school to achieve better learning.
Career coaching. I know a lot of people who don’t know what to do with their
lives at the age of 20, where most people already know what they want. It’s okay
to be confused for a while, but this can be addressed with proper career coaching,
so people won’t suffer from job-mismatch. They need to know which job is
appropriate, so they won’t get stuck to do a job they don’t want. This should be
done during elementary and high school, so they’ll have more time to think and
assess important things in their lives and be able to realize what they want without
other people meddling.
Population control. With the government controlling our population, enough job
opportunities will be generated to support the citizens lives, and unemployment
rate shall be minimized.
Student Exercises / Assessment
Exercise 1. Descriptive Research
Try to understand the different perspectives on variations on wages by undertaking a simple
survey among members of your family who are already working. You may use the following
guide questions to help you start with your research:
 How are their salaries / wages similar or different? You may look into the ranges of their
salaries or wages, or salary grades (for government officials).
Only my dad is working in our household, for my mom has deceased, and he
earns 14,000 pesos more or less as a liaison in a travel agency before the
pandemic, and now it has been decreased to 40%, due to travel ban and their
office needed to retrench and reduced employees by half.

 What were the considerations for the salary or wage offers?

My dad is paid regularly, regardless of how many appointments he makes for a
day. The only consideration is the number of hours he works.
 What kind of jobs were given the aforementioned salaries or wages? How do these types
of jobs influence wage determination?
An average maintenance technician and average administrative assistant have
similar salaries with a liaison officer. In my opinion, the capacity and amount of
intellectual and physical work needed determine the amount of salary to be given.
Exercise 2. Understanding Labor Statistics
Does the official employment and unemployment rates capture the real labor condition of a
country? Discuss why or why not using the following statistics:
 Philippine labor statistics from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Determine how the Philippine
government defines employment and unemployment.
According to the Technical Notes on the Labor Force Survey, “employed consists
of persons in the labor force who are reported either as at work or with a job or
business although not at work. Persons at work are those who did some work,
even for an hour during the reference period.” On the other hand, “unemployed
consists of persons in the labor force who are reported as (1) without work; and
(2) currently available for work; and (3) seeking work or not seeking work
because of the belief that no work is available, or awaiting results of previous job
application, or because of temporary illness or disability, bad weather or waiting
for rehire or job recall.”
 Using these definitions, critically analyze how such standards for employment and
unemployment affect the way we measure labor force participation.
 As mentioned in the text earlier, employment consists of both work and
ownership of a business. Despite not having to work that much, and only handles
the management of your business, you’re still considered employed – and these
are the types of people who earn much more. Double, triple, or even quadruple
times more than the regular salary. Here in the Philippines, white collar
employees earn more than blue collar ones, despite having to work less in terms
of physical work. Blue collar workers have to shed their sweat working the
construction sites, restaurants, fast-food chains, and yet they are paid less money,
why is that so? In my opinion, Philippines gives more importance to intellectual
rather than physical skills; that’s mainly the reason why parents encourage their
children to finish school to get a job in a popular company or firm, instead of
letting them pursue their own passion. Unfortunately, if a profession doesn’t make
much money, it’s not considered as a real job in the Philippines – like artistry.
To conclude my answer, we measure labor force participation based on the
intellectual capacity needed in the job; the more you stretch your brains out, the
more you get paid.
 Look at ILO statistics on employment and unemployment. Compare the status of our
Southeast Asian neighbors with the Philippines. How are we similar and different?
Identify and critically analyze the reason why.
Country Employment-to-population Unemployment rate
ratio
Indonesia 64.3% 3.66%
Singapore 67.6% 3.1%
Myanmar 60.7% 0.5%
Thailand 66.8% 0.7%
Philippines 58.3% 2.2%
Vietnam 75.9% 2%
Malaysia 62.2% 3.3%
Cambodia 81.8% 0.1%
Laos 78% 9.4%
Brunei 58.8% 6.9%
Timor-Leste 64.3% 4.7%
Based on the data provided by ILO statistics, Philippines has the least
employment-to-population ratio with 58.3%, while Cambodia has the highest with
81.8%. On the other hand, Cambodia has the lowest unemployment rate with
0.1%, while Laos has the highest with 9.4%.
Most Filipinos think that Vietnam is always worse compared to Philippines, but
it’s the other way around. They’re better in handling economic problems, as well
as healthcare ones; based on how they handled this pandemic – they were one of
the few Asian countries to have free mass testing, and they are excellent in
contact tracing, together with Thailand.
 Most of these Asian countries are belittled, because of their lack of knowledge in
English, but we can’t change the fact that their culture is so rich, they don’t need
to learn another language to support their people. They are capable of handling it
on their own way without much foreign influence – and I think we, as a country,
should learn how to do it too.
Exercise 3. Comparative Analysis of OFW-Related Laws
One of the reasons why Filipinos leave the country is because of our socio-economic conditions.
The government, in part, also crafted laws in favor of labor export. Find at least three (3) related
legislations and government policies on OFW welfare, labor export, and migrant protection
implemented in our country. Critically assess these public policies using the following questions
as guide:
 What are the salient provisions and major goals of the identified public policies?
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8042
Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995
An act to institute the policies of overseas employment and establish a higher
standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers, their
families and overseas Filipinos in distress, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. - This act shall be known and cited as the "Migrant
Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995."

SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICIES--

(a) In the pursuit of an independent foreign policy and while considering
national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest and the right to self-
determination paramount in its relations with other states, the State shall, at all
times, uphold the dignity of its citizens whether in country or overseas, in general,
and Filipino migrant workers, in particular.

(b) The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized
and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment
opportunities for all. Towards this end, the State shall provide adequate and
timely social, economic and legal services to Filipino migrant workers.
(c) While recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers to
the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, the State does
not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and
achieve national development. The existence of the overseas employment
program rests solely on the assurance that the dignity and fundamental human
rights and freedoms of the Filipino citizens shall not, at any time, be
compromised or violated. The State, therefore, shall continuously create local
employment opportunities and promote the equitable distribution of wealth and
the benefits of development.

(d) The State affirms the fundamental equality before the law of women and men
and the significant role of women in nation-building. Recognizing the
contribution of overseas migrant women workers and their particular
vulnerabilities, the State shall apply gender sensitive criteria in the formulation
and implementation of policies and programs affecting migrant workers and the
composition of bodies tasked for the welfare of migrant workers.

(e) Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal
assistance shall not be denied to any persons by reason of poverty. In this regard,
it is imperative that an effective mechanism be instituted to ensure that the rights
and interest of distressed overseas Filipinos, in general, and Filipino migrant
workers, in particular, documented or undocumented, are adequately protected
and safeguarded.

(f) The right of Filipino migrant workers and all overseas Filipinos to participate
in the democratic decision-making processes of the State and to be represented in
institutions relevant to overseas employment is recognized and guaranteed.

(g) The State recognizes that the ultimate protection to all migrant workers is the
possession of skills. Pursuant to this and as soon as practicable, the government
shall deploy and/or allow the deployment only to skilled Filipino workers.

(h) Non-governmental organizations, duly recognized as legitimate, are partners

of the State in the protection of Filipino migrant workers and in the promotion of
their welfare, the State shall cooperate with them in a spirit of trust and mutual
respect.
 (I) Government fees and other administrative costs of recruitment, introduction,
placement and assistance to migrant workers shall be rendered free without
prejudice to the provision of Section 36 hereof.
Nonetheless, the deployment of Filipino overseas workers, whether land-based
or sea-based by local service contractors and manning agencies employing them
shall be encouraged. Appropriate incentives may be extended to them.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. - For purposes of this Act:

(a) "Migrant worker" refers to a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has
been engaged in a renumerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a legal
resident to be used interchangeably with overseas Filipino worker.

(b) "Gender-sensitivity" shall mean cognizance of the inequalities and inequities

prevalent in society between women and men and a commitment to address issues
with concern for the respective interests of the sexes.

(c) "Overseas Filipinos" refers to dependents of migrant workers and other

Filipino nationals abroad who are in distress as mentioned in Sections 24 and 26
of this Act.

I. DEPLOYMENT
SEC. 4. Deployment of Migrant Workers - The State shall deploy overseas
Filipino workers only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers
are protected. The government recognizes any of the following as guarantee on
the part of the receiving country for the protection and the rights of overseas
Filipino workers:
(a) It has existing labor and social laws protecting the rights of migrant workers;

(b) It is a signatory to multilateral conventions, declaration or resolutions

relating to the protection of migrant workers;

(c) It has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government

protecting the rights of overseas Filipino workers; and
 (d) It is taking positive, concrete measures to protect the rights of migrant
workers.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION OR BAN ON DEPLOYMENT - Notwithstanding the

provisions of Section 4 hereof, the government, in pursuit of the national interest
or when public welfare so requires, may, at any time, terminate or impose a ban
on the deployment of migrant workers.
Source: https://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---
migrant/documents/publication/wcms_201588.pdf
 How are these salient provisions and major goals consistent with our Philippine
Development Plan and AmBisyon 2040, as articulated by our national government?
According to Section 2. Declaration of Policies, that the government shall protect
the rights of migrant workers wherever they are; not solely for the economic
development of the country, but as well as for their safety and their families’ to
secure resources such as food, clothes, and shelter – which are part of the Panatag
section of the development plan. It was also included in the policy that equal
amount of opportunities shall be given to Filipino citizens, which is very much
aligned with the AmBisyon 2040 to bring families closer to develop a community
founded in strong family relationships and provide a quality life free from poverty
and hunger.
Fortunately, the state recognizes women rights, and apply it to the criteria of
migrant workers. Both men and women should be protected against violence,
especially when they’re away from their own land and families. In my opinion,
gender sensitivity is the key towards inclusivity; nations must be open and well-
educated about types of gender and sexuality and realize that human rights are
also LGBTQA++ community’s rights. We must acknowledge their importance as
much as we give value to men – and put an end to the patriarchal society we live
in.
Part of Panatag, are peace and security – LGBTQA++ members should feel safe
living in the country and not think about other people’s judgments every time they
go outside and try to be themselves. All of us deserves to feel comfortable to live
the life we want, and how we choose to live it; a community where men and
women are not judged based on how they look, a community where all of us
receives the love and respect that we deserve.
 Looking into recent studies and news articles on the plight of Filipino overseas workers,
how are these policies responsive to identified OFW issues and challenges?
Unfortunately, most of the written rights are not applied to our Filipino workers,
because of tons of stories seen in the news – but how about those that aren’t
 telecasted? Overseas Filipino Workers are still not protected against violence –
most of them are victims of racism, treated as animals rather than humans. They
might think of less of Filipinos, because of their jobs, but that’s how we are and
we’re much more than that. We’re willing to sacrifice our pride, dreams, and
hopes, just to feed our families in any way possible. If the policies are
implemented properly, our beloved workers shouldn’t be abused in the foreign
lands – the government needs to exert more effort in ensuring that every Filipino
worker is treated with respect and kindness – like how a decent human being
deserves.
 Using your field of specialization, how would we best support OFWs and respond to
challenges that affect their welfare?
By ensuring that they aren’t abused financially, by providing advices on their
employment rights, including benefits, leaves, and holiday pays. Most of them
aren’t knowledgeable of how much they should receive as their monthly or semi-
monthly wages, including their employer’s monthly contribution to PAG-IBIG,
SSS or GSIS, PHILHEA and other mandatory contributions they should be
paying.
My mom is also a victim of this type of incident, although she’s not an OFW, but
her boss didn’t pay for her mandatory contributions. By the time she passed away,
we had financial problems, because of hospital bills that should be covered by
PhilHealth as well as the SSS pension that supposed to support me, my sister and
my dad. I know there are still a lot of employees, victimized by their own
employers, with greedy mindset, and I want to put an end to it. I don’t want other
employees cheat on like this; they deserve to have these benefits after working so
hard to earn for a living.
Taking this course also means having the advantage to learn what’s stated in the
law, and I would like to share it with everyone. This knowledge shouldn’t be
hidden from people, especially for those who didn’t get to chance to learn this
from school.
Chapter 4: Urbanization & Rural-To-Urban Migration
Review Questions:
Exercise: Reflection Essay
 What explains the strong association between urbanization and development?
 Differentiate urbanization economies from localization economies?
 Explain the causes of urbanization.
 Differentiate the three economic theories of migration.
Urbanization isn’t new here in the Philippines, we can see it everywhere. Many
provinces are converted to cities, to provide more opportunities for the citizens for
a quality life. Most people associate development to modernization. You can
identify if an area is developed, if it’s industrialized, hence urbanization. As long
as a place is seeking for more opportunities and resources can benefit from,
urbanization will always arise.
Although I don’t believe in the specific statement; because aside from the positive
aspects it provides, urbanization also has a lot of downsides – such as pollution.
Unfortunately, construction requires reduction of trees, unless a brilliant mind
thinks of a solution to prevent this, deforestation is the only way to do it. With
minimal trees around the area, the risk of flooding shall increase to a significant
number, then landslides and flashfloods shall follow afterwards.
Urbanization economies is about increasing an economy’s productivity with the
help of outside factors – can come from foreign companies under different
industries, or just simply a company outside a particular area. On the other hand,
localization economies are also about increasing productivity, but only with the
help of organizations within the area. In my opinion, localization is advantageous
when it comes to preserving and enriching the culture and tradition of a particular
country. They are far from foreign influence, but still be able to produce jobs, as
well as resources beneficial for their countrymen.
One thing that pushes areas to urbanize is unemployment. Being unemployed
produces a lot of problems – financial, social, spiritual, physical, mental, and of
course, emotional. Not being able to work and help your family strive could be
very hard for people. Aside from not being able to have financial support, you
might also think that you’re less of a person, or a failure. Without money, you
can’t socialize, otherwise your friends might think of you as a freeloader. Hospital
consultation, monthly maintenance, and vitamins cost a lot of cash, and without
enough of it, your health might be compromised. These are just a few of the
problems we get out of poverty, but the worst thing about it is: death. The other
cause of urbanization might also be overpopulation, that causes counter
productivity, and one way to solve this particular problem is by transforming a
local province to something that will produce a lot of jobs for all.
Lastly, foreign influence. Yes, I think this impacts us greatly as a nation; the more
we see how successful countries get out of urbanization, the more our desires to
be like them grow and grow. We’re inspired, but most of the time, our expectation
exceeds our resources. We plan of the future, but we don’t assess if we have what
it takes to execute the plan.
Modifies Human Capital Theory states that a person decides whether to migrate
from one place to another depending on the discounted value of the earnings
differential between the urban and rural areas. On the other hand, Todaro
Migration Model suggests that the decision made of a person deciding to leave
and give up the place where they grew up in is a rational decision. It means, it
can’t be decided overnight – she shall think about how much is her expected
income, and compare it to her average income in the rural area, and when it does
exceed, the moving shall begin. Lastly, the Harris-Todaro Model explains that
expected incomes from rural and urban areas shall be equalized, once informal
activities and outright unemployment are included to the records.