"Kahirapan at Kalusugan sa Paraeso": A Qualitative study on the

unfortunated of Barangay Looc Mandaue City

By

Group 5

Cose, Mhendylean
Econar, Quennie April
Lacangan, Thea Yvonne
Laude, Kyla
Lim Pil, Mikhaila

BSN-3A

Ms. Hazel Faith B. Genabe

Research Adviser
Research Agenda: Reducing the incidence of health problems attributed to poor environmental
conditions, including health care , waste management sanitation and hygiene.

Research Title: "Kahirapan at Kalusugan sa Paraeso": A Qualitative study on the unfortunated

of Barangay Looc Mandaue City

Rationale:

Basic human rights are not being met in many parts of the world. People in poverty suffer from
hunger, ill-health, poor education and low standards of living which negatively affect their well-
being. These reasons and poverty as a wide spread social problem that undermines the economy
and development of entire nations, make poverty socially relevant and important to study. To
understand how poor people experience and survive limitations in their quality of life, I came
closer to their realities and observed the areas where poverty is accumulated in a town in the
Philippines. I took into account the behaviours and appearances of poor people as well as
listening to their stories. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse their situations and
the definitions of issues related to poverty. The objective is to gain more understanding and
knowledge about poor people. This is a qualitative research in which Symbolic Interactionism is
used as a framework. Data gathering includes participant and non participant observations as
well as semistructured interviews. The study reveals that poor people in addition to poverty also
suffer from stigmas. Poor people implement a variety of strategies to survive, some are creative
and others are norm-breaking. To cope with poverty social relations are important. There are
differences in the way poverty affects women and men due to culturally defined gender roles.
Religious beliefs against divorce and family planning through contraceptives contribute to more
poverty among the poor people.

According to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 2012); Everyone
has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the
right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other
lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. What the general media reports about
inequalities and my own observations suggest however that these basic rights are not met in
many parts of the world, the struggles and sufferings of millions of people make the issue of
poverty important. It can undermine the economy and development of entire nations (Spicker
2007 p.98) and affect the global market through, for instance unequal distribution of wealth and
labour (Potter et al. 2004). In this study I seek to come closer to the realities of poor people by
listening to their stories, observing their ambiances, behaviours and appearances. My purpose is
to describe and analyse their situation and the definitions of the situations related to the struggle
with the lack of resources in their daily life and by doing so, strive for a deeper understanding
and knowledge of how people survive limitations in their quality of life. Who is considered to be
poor, what is the notion of “real poverty” in the Philippines and is the label “poor” a stigma
people try to avoid even though they may carry all the traits associated with poverty? The idea of
poverty may vary but what do the people who have firsthand experience say about it and what
can people who have not lived in poverty learn from the former? How does poverty affect the
individuals and categories of people in a society where the lack of resources is wide spread?
What are the consequences of poverty and how do local cultures affect the situation of the poor?
To study poverty in the Philippines is beneficial for my research since the topic in question is
defined as a widespread social problem (Osias, 2011 p.2) and I therefore can expect to have the
opportunity of finding rich information.

References:

 Becker, Howard (2008). Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. Free Press: USA.

 Borchgrevink, Axel (2003). Silencing Language: Of Anthropologists and Interpreters.

Ethnography 4: 95.

 Bryman, Alan (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press.

 Bulacan (2007a). Cities and Municipalities of Bulacan . [online] Available at: [Accessed April
2013].

 Bulacan (2007b). Municipality of Hagonoy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December

2012].

 Calhoun, Craig. Gerteis, Joseph. Moody, James. Pfaff, Steven and Virk, Indermohan. Ed.
(2007). Contemporary Sociological Theory. 2nd edition. Blackwell Publishing: USA.

 Cattell, Vicky (2001). Poor people, poor places and poor health; the mediating role of social
networks and social capital. Social Science & Medicine 52: 1501-1516.

 CBCNEWS (2011). Manila typhoon kills at least 16 in massive flooding. [online] CBCNEWS.
Available at: [Accessed February 2013].

 Charon, Joel M. (2010). Symbolic Interactionism; An introduction, An Interpretation, An

Integration. Pearson Education, Inc: USA.

 Coser Lewis, A. (1965). Sociology of poverty; to the memory of Georg Simmel. Social
Problems, Vol. 13, No. 2. Pp. 140-148.
 Dizon, David (2011). Bulacan flood victims appeal for help. ABS-CBNNEWS.COM. [Online]
Available at: [Acessed 8 December