OUTLINE

I. Introduction
I.1. Poverty in the Philippines
I.2. Finding Solutions against Poverty
I.3. Definitions, Examples and Proposed Solutions
I.4. Corruption as the Reason why the Philippines is still Drenched in Poverty
II. Body
II.1. Definition of poverty
II.2. Definition of corruption
II.3. Examples of Corruption
III. Conclusion
III.1. Corruption as the Reason why the Philippines is still Drenched in Poverty
III.2. Solutions to Corruption to Solve Poverty in Philippines

PLAN RESPONSE

TOPIC POVERTY

TITLE OF CORRUPTION AS THE REASON WHY THE PHILIPPINES IS STILL

ESSAY DRENCHED IN POVERTY

PURPOSE TO LESSEN POVERTY BY TARGETING ONE OF THE ROOT CAUSES

- CORRUPTION

AUDIENCE FILIPINO CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

ROLE CONCERNED CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES

 Corruption as the Reason why the Philippines is still Drenched in Poverty

The term poverty and Philippines have been connected to each other for a long period of time now. That

is because Philippines despite having advances in economy still has most of the citizens are facing

poverty. In 2021 based on the preliminary results of the family income and expenditure survey the

proportion of the poor Filipinos was recorded at 18.1% in 2021. At the end of this essay, we will try to

give a conclusion or recommendation on how we will try to stop poverty in the Philippines.

But what is poverty even mean? The World Bank organization describes poverty as hunger, lack of

shelter, being sick, not being able to see doctor poverty, no access to school, doesn't know how to read

and write, not having a job, there is a fear for the future, and living one day at a time. There are many

contributing factors on why this happened. In this essay, one of the factors will be discussed and it is

corruption.

Corruption is one of the leading causes of poverty in the Philippines. It is regarded as one that separates

Philippines from having good governance. There is a study that suggests that all levels of corruption from

petty bribery to graft, patronage, and state capture exist in the Philippines at a large scale and scope.

Corruption is like a virus that hit Philippines so hard that recovering from it would be nigh impossible.

Especially when Filipinos are still turning a blind eye regarding this matter or by electing corrupt

government officials just because they have been swayed by their words .

One good example of corruption is how the Turkey eat billion pesos Malampaya fund In 2022 the

Malampaya deep water gas to power projects started making some money the profits remitted to the

government were supposed to be used for energy resource development and exploration programs but

under the presidential decree 910 signed in 1976 resident of the Philippines is allowed to determine other

purposes which the earnings might be used for by 2004 600 million pesos was released for priority

development projects for Palawan through the years profits going to Palawan would increase especially

after former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed in 2007 executive order number 683. that
authorizes the use of profits from Malampaya gas project to fund projects in Palawan location of the

Malampaya reservoir and this is when things started to go wrong the 900 million pesos which supposedly

to be used to help the survivors of the typhoons on the end pepping was reportedly scammed through the

use of governmental organization or NGO's some of which were linked to Janet Lim Napoles of course

we know now that as early as 2007 Napoles have been employing a similar scheme to profit from the

work battle of lawmakers. The total 38 billion pesos release from 2004 to 2012 consists of 184 special

allotment release orders out of those 184 only four instances of a SARO issuance We're all rules

followed. 120 out of 137 in both the projects of the PWH though there was no even letter of request from

the implementing agency or in most cases the DPWH. 171 out of 184 cases says that there was no proof

of evaluation from the DBMS again it is a requirement that the Commission of audit insists and is

provided for under several laws . In the most recent events of corruption includes comedian Roderick

Paulate as the Quezon city District 2 counilor was proven guilty on one count of graft and nine counts of

falsification of public documents in connection with the hiring of ghost employees in 2010 during his first

stint as a councilor. His total sentence amounted between then in half years to 62 years of imprisonment

broken down the graph of wins was six to eight years while each falsification offense accounts for six

months to six years aside from that he was ordered to pay 10,000 pesos fine for each count of falsification

offense a total of 90,000 and is perpetually disqualified from public office.

These are some of the few cases of corruption that was reported to the public. but in the everyday

scenario there have been a lot of corruption happening left and right without even knowing it. According

to a report on corruption cases received by Sandiganbayan, an anti-graft board which has jurisdiction

over high-ranking officials around 10,094 cases of malversation and 7968 pieces of graph have been filed

against public officials making up for about 53.59% of the 33,772 government officials who have violated

the time-honored principle that public office is public trust. stop Therefore the Philippines keep getting

poorer and poorer but the government officials the Philippines get richer and richer.
There are a lot of ways the combat poverty in the Philippines but each of them requires good governance

and full cooperation of the Filipino citizens. And to have good governance, the Filipino citizens must

elect the most eligible candidate for the job, and this does not only refer to the president only but from

every sector of the government. This is because each of them will have a role in combating the poverty

here in the Philippines. Now, even if one is corrupt, it could ruin the entire plan of combating the poverty.

Next, there would be a need for the government to show transparency in every single project loss and

other government related documents and explain to every Filipinos in the simplest manner possible.

Another way to counter corruption is to strengthen the bodies that combats or advances anti-corruption

measures by means of related reforms introduced and instituted by these organizations the Philippines has

a better chance of advancing integrity initiatives in the public sector. Criminalization and law

enforcement must be strengthened as well. but to do that the law enforcement body must be free from

corruption itself meaning the police must have no ties to the convicts and will not receive any form or

bribery. They must live by their code and that is to serve and protect.

Overall combating poverty would be a long due process and would require a lot of cleansing. But it is not

far from impossible. Combating poverty is like climbing up into a staircase. it needs to be one step at a

time before eventually reaching the desired destination and that is Philippines escaping the third world

country status.