The Anti-Poverty Platform/agenda of Philippine Presidential Candidate Emmanuel

“Manny” Pacquiao: Will it be effective in addressing the current poverty issues?

I have chosen to discuss the anti-poverty platform of Presidential aspirant Emmanuel

“Manny” Pacquiao for this paper as I deem it more fitting for the given topic being that poverty
eradication is the forefront of his campaign strategy. “Ang Manny Pacquiao na nasa harapan
ninyo ngayon ay pinanday ng hirap” is the line he delivers to the crowd in his election
campaigns, perhaps a declaration of his determination to solve poverty being that he himself
has lived the experience. In one of his public appearances on December 7 last year, he
revealed his stand that strengthening the MSME sector is crucial to solving the country’s
lingering poverty issue. He argues that a robust and progressive MSME sector will bring about
massive employment, which will solve the poverty related issue of hunger. He adds that his
strategy to strengthen this sector is in the allocation of funds to provide interest-free
MSME loans for capitalization; and to increase one-stop shops and online portals in
order to ensure corrupt and hassle-free processing of loan applications and business
permits. Another of the presidential candidate’s anti-poverty agenda is to fight
corruption in government, which he deem is the root cause of Philippine poverty,
though he does not detail his specific plans to do so.
To discuss the effectiveness of the above-mentioned platform, let us first
provide a brief background on the country’s current poverty situation. As of the last
survey by PSA, the poverty rate of the country grew to 23.7% in the first semester
of 2021. This means nearly a quarter of the population is living below the poverty
threshold. This increase is transitory as it is mainly attributed to pandemic related
lockdown measures which forced business closures, stunted economic activities,
which eventually led to job loss. However, even before the pandemic, a more
chronic incidence of poverty in the country is that in the rural areas where 71.6% of
the country’s poor reside, especially those employed in the sectors of agriculture,
fishing, and forestry.
The anti-poverty platform on strengthening the MSME sector can have its
contribution to addressing the issue of poverty to an extent. Statistically, 62.66% of
total employment is from MSMEs. As such, strengthening this sector would indeed
bring about creation of jobs, which would lead to increased household income to
spend on goods and services, and thus spur economic growth— other factors
permitting. This will enable the economy to jumpstart towards recovery from the
pandemic. The downside however is that the effects may only be more localized
particularly in urban regions such as NCR, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, and Central
Visayas for example, owing to the population density and concentration of economic
activities spurred by urban demand which are conducive for business. Also, MSMEs
tend to fall largely in the industries of wholesale & retail trade, vehicle repair,
accommodation & food service, and Manufacturing which are leaning towards
consumption demands of urban dwellers. The sectors of agriculture, forestry, and
finishing constitute only 0.87% of MSMEs. As such, unless policies are implemented to
enable economic participation of marginalized sectors such as agriculture, then such an
agenda might not provide a solution to the chronic poverty befalling the country’s rural
regions.