Chapter 4 – Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Issues in Philippine History

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Effectively communicate using various techniques end genres, historical analysis of a
particular event or issue that could help others understand the chosen topic
2. Proper recommendation or solutions to present day problems based on their
understanding of root causes and their anticipation of future scenarios
3. Display the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary way team and contribute to a group
endeavor.
A. Socio – Economic Issues and Concerns
There are social issues that affect the economic conditions of the people and therefore
these two issues are deemed combined. The socio-economic issues started in the past and still
being currently experienced by most Filipinos. These are listed below (not in ranking order)
1. Corruption in the Philippines
Evidence of corruption accounted to billions of money lost to project anomalies,
procurement process, pork barrel scam, ill-gotten wealth, and many other forms of corruptions.
In 2001 alone, the government lost about ₱ 21 billion to graft and corruption from
scheming contracts entered into by some senators and congressmen. Such amount excluded
money lost to corruption involving projects executed by other government officials in various
government agencies. Also, around ₱35 billion is lost to graft and corruption in government
infrastructure projects annually. These anomalies come in the form of rigged public biddings,
substantial works and cost padding. A few government officials were already jailed in this matter
but some remain “untouched”.
With respect to procurement process, the government is losing about ₱21 billion annually
to corrupt officials involved in the procurement process, according to the Procurement Wealth
Inc. (PWI). The survey conducted by the social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that 15 percent
of the cost of all government contracts is lost to corruption.
On pork barrel or procurement budget funds of senators and congressmen, it was reported
in newspapers that some ₱21 billion or nearly 20 percent of the estimated ₱104 billion budget
annually for pork barrel is pocketed by corrupt legislators in connivance with government
officials, contractors, non-existing NGOs and private persons yearly. In fact, some lawmakers
were already prosecuted while others are in the waiting list for their anomalous involvement.
As a consequence of the “never ending” corruption in the Philippine, our country was
ranked fourth most corrupt country in Asia behind Indonesia, India and Vietnam in a completed
data in 2002 surveyed by the Hong Kong – based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
The Philippines received a score of 8 in a scale of 10 with 0 as the best possible score for a country
with no corruption.
Likewise, in 2002 a survey of the Transparency International (TI) ranked the Philippines as
77 among the 102 countries in terms of fighting graft and corruption. The Philippines got a score
of 2.6 in corruption index with 10 as the highest possible score for a country that has no
corruption obtaining a score of 9.2 while Bangladesh is at the bottom of the list (which means
most corrupt country), with a score of 1.2.
The Philippines slid further down in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) obtaining a score
of 3.5 in 2016, same as it scored in the 2015 report. Its ranking worsened to 101 and rank out of
176 countries compared to 95th place out of 168 in 2015. In 2014, the Philippines was ranked 85th
out of 175 countries, with a score of 3.8 out of 10.
Regarding ill-gotten wealth and hidden wealth (another form of corruption) by some
government officials the value of their properties and other assets does not commensurate with
the salaries and other benefits they are receiving. Many of these officials are still “uncaught”
today
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), has only recovered a total of
Php. 85 billion in an ill-gotten wealth since it was created in 1986. Hence, there are still more to
collect. But when and how?
That is the question:

2. Poverty
Poverty is a consequence of many causes. According to the Population Commission
(PDPCOM), there were about 32 million Filipinos who are poor in 2002. These affected 22.7
percent of all Filipino families in urban areas and 46.9 percent in rural areas – an indication that
there are more poor families living in the rural areas than in urban areas.

In 2015, the poverty incidence improved a little with more than 26 million Filipinos remain
poor compared to the 2002 report. However, what was showed concern most are these people
who lack the means to fuel themselves. According to the survey in 2015, more than 12 million
families are living in “extreme poverty” of the 16 Regions of the country, 5 had lower poverty
levels - all located in Luzon. There are Metro Manila, the lowest with poverty incidence of 5.2
percent; followed by Central Luzon, with poverty incidence of 17 percent; Region 4 (Southern
Tagalog), 20.8 percent; Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), 24.8 percent and Region 1 (Ilocos), 29.6
percent.
These statistics were given by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). The
unequal regional development is the reason for this disparity among the regions. Metro Manila,
being the center of education, trade and comers and where the national government agencies
are located are given more attention in terms of development founding and others.

3. Overpopulation
Every year, more than one million people is added to the existing population. Because of
the higher number of births, and lower percentage of deaths, population may “explode” and this
causes a lot of problems issues and concerns. According to the worldometers Information, in 2017
the Philippine population is 105,667,929 based on the United Nations estimates. The Philippines
population is equivalent to 1.39 percent of the total world population, thus the Philippine ranks
number 13 in the list of countries by population. The land area in the Philippines (298,170 kms)
which is smaller compared to other countries of the world, its population density is 352 per km2
or there are 911 people per miles. There are more people living in the rural areas (55.6%) than in
urban areas (44.4%) It has also been estimated the median age population is 24.3 years old. It has
been estimated that by the year 2018 the Philippine population is 106,512,374.

The causes of overpopulation in the Philippines are:

a. False beliefs and values by many Filipinos, especially among the old folks. Children are
regarded as “gifts of God”. This is one of the teachings of the Catholic Church.

b. Natural birth control rather than artificial birth control is emphasized by the Catholic
Church. The Church is against the distribution and use of condoms and other artificial
methods of controlling birth.
 c. Lack of family planning in many families especially in rural areas.

d. Lack of knowledge in the use of contraceptive devices.

e. Teenage pregnancy is on the rise.

f. Pornography. Even young children have access to pornographic materials due to the
advancement of social media and other technologies.

g. Idleness of the parents, especially in rural areas.

h. Lack of recreational facilities and center in the family or community.

Poverty, graft and corruption, criminality, family discord, economic crisis, economic
imbalanced political instability, unemployment, lack of peace and orders are the
consequences of overpopulation in the country.

4. Unemployment and Underemployment

Related to the above issue and concern in Philippine history is unemployment and
underemployment. It was estimated in 2002 that only 31 percent had work or earnings a living at
least 40 hours a week while 69 percent of all Filipinos in the Philippines had no work or no income.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) which commissioned a study showed that
26.2 percent of college graduates aged 24 years and below were unemployed.

In 2002 the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) stated that there were 4,866
million Filipinos unemployed accounting to 13.4 percent of the total labor force estimated at
35,652 million workers. Underemployment (no regular sources of income) was accounted 5,922
million on 19.6 percent of the labor force likewise, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in a survey
conducted in March 2002, showed that 16.1 percent of its respondents had experienced hunger
at least once in the last 3 months and about 6 percent of the household members had also
claimed that they experienced hunger often or always. This finding could be due to poverty as a
result of unemployment and underemployment.

5. Criminality
Many crimes are committed every day. Rape, murder, kidnapping, snatching, bribery,
unlicensed guns, ransom, theft and robbery, sex crimes against children, prostitutions, gambling,
smuggling abortions, counterfeiting and others.

Index Crimes - crimes committed against lives and properties are mostly committed by
persons, groups or associations. In 2018 alone, there were 48,620 index crimes reported to the
police.

Reports indicates that there are 328,329 loose firearms nationwide and these are usually
used in committing crimes. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that
of the 15,000 firearms used in crimes in 2013, more than 12,000 of which were unlicensed.

The Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC), a non-government organization (NGO) have
reported that many Filipino-Chinese have become victims of kidnap for ransom gangs in the
Philippines. Some of the ransom gangs are policeman and military men (active and retired, or
AWOL) who victimized such Filipinos and Chinese Filipinos including foreigners. Manila-based
publication tagged the Philippines as the “World’s kidnap Capital”, the PNP quickly claimed this
title even claiming that Colombia owns the title.
 Concerning car napping or stealing a car, it was reported that a total of 1877 car theft
cases were documented by the PNP. Car napping is still a social problem and issues today.
Based on statistics, there are about 6 cars stolen each day or 185 cars each month.

Rape cases are increasing daily. Many of the rape victims are young (below 21 years old).
Some are prominent members of the community. Policemen, soldiers, laborers, teachers,
farmers, factors of the victims including their relatives were involved in rape incidents. It is
estimated that there are 8 cases of rape each day and one rape incident every 3 hours.

Related to rape are the sex crimes (rape, incest and acts of lasciviousness. According to the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), there were 5,185 sex crimes committed
against children in the Philippines and this figure is increasing everyday due to poverty, high prices
of commodities, prostitutions, pornography, lack of moral and spiritual development in the
family, broken families, poor family and scheme discipline, among other causes or factors.

Teenage pregnancy is also increasing as a result of the above causes. Teenage pregnancy
is not a crime per se. It became a crime when teenage women (20 years and below) is
impregnated against her will by her boyfriend, classmate, relatives, father or anyone. It is
reported that one (1) of ten (10) teenage women is pregnant daily.

6. Child Sexual Abuse

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer report, as relayed by the former Secretary of
DSWD, as many as 2,147 cases of child abuse were reported to the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) in the first quarter of this year, more than one-fourth of which was of
a sexual nature.

The figure was nearly half of the total 4,374 child abuse cases reported in the entire year
of 2015, according to the Policy Development and Planning Bureau of the DSWD.

In a statement of the DSWD former secretary, Judy Taguiwalo called for greater vigilance
among the public to protect the children in the face of the growing number of child abuse cases
in the country

7. Prostitution
Despite the fact that prostitution is illegal, there are still women and children who are
involved in prostitutions. According to the GABRIELA, as early as 2000, there are already
400,000 women working as prostitutes in the country.

Based on the report of the UN Children Fund in UNICEF, about 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino
children are prostitutes as early 2000. The major child prostitution dens are found in the National
Capital Region, Angeles City, Puerto Gallera, Davao City and Cebu City, according to the report.
The report also indicate that the Philippines is a favorite destination of pedophiles from the US,
Australia and other countries in Europe.

According to Artemio Dumlao (2013); sex workers in the country are reaching the half a
million-mark TEX, a Baguio-based rights advocate and a member of the Philippine Sex Workers
Collective (PSWC) said that as the number of sex workers (prostitute) grows so does the number
of cases of abuse and violence against them.

“The reason why so much abuse happens is that they are not recognized by law and the
government…,” Tex said.

An NGO called “Women Hookers Organizing for Their Rights and Empowerment (WHORE)
is treading the thorny path towards government recognition of this history-old job called
prostitution. The project would start with a photography contest in that according to “Tex” will
lend a human face to “hookers” or “whores”, who also have human rights and need government
protection.

Tex said “as long as poverty is there, you expect more people to engage in prostitution.”

He said there are about 500,000 sex workers in the country, 3,000 of whom are in Baguio
City, one of the country’s top tourist draws.

Among others, Filipino sex workers face health issues, made worse by fear of being
denied access to health services.

Related to rape, prostitution, teenage pregnancy and other crimes is abortion, especially
intentional abortion. Most of the aborted children are thrown away or place somewhere. Some
were already born dead as a consequence of the mother’s desire or done by the abortionists
themselves. According to the study released by the Philippines Population Institute (PPI) there
were around 500,000 cases of abortion in the Philippines in 2018 and increasing each year.

8. Cybersex
Due to the advancement of information and communication technology the social issue
on cybersex emerged. Cybersex has many similar names such as computer sex, internet sex and
net sex. Cybersex is a virtual sex __ in which five or more reasons connected remotely via
computer network send each other sexually explicit messages describing a sexual experience. In
one form, this fantasy sex is accomplished by the participants describing their actions and
responding to their chat partners in a mostly written form designed to stimulate their own sexual
feelings and fantasies.

Cybersex often includes real life masturbation of one or both. The quality of a cybersex
encounters typically depends upon the participants’ abilities to evoke a vivid, visceral mental
picture in the minds of their partners. Imagination and suspension of disbelief are also critically
important. Cybersex can occur either within the geographically separated, or among individuals
who have no prior knowledge of one another and meet in virtual spaces or cyberspaces and may
even remain anonymous to one another. In some context cybersex is enhanced by the use of a
webcam to transmit real-time video of the partners.

The use of technology in the commission of traditional crimes and the new found ways of
committing crime in the country pose an investigative challenge to the Philippine National Police.
There is a rising incidence of financially motivated cybercrime and politically motivated cyber-
attacks on government by cyber actors in the Philippines.

Cybersex is committed anywhere else as long as there are operators, maintainers, patrons,
participants and even protectors. This crime is held and performed in secret place such as
prostitution dens, bars, SPAS, massage parlors, private houses and apartments, and computer
shops. Cybercrime occurs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao but it is more rampant in Metro Manila
and its suburb.
From 2003 up to 2017, a total of 3,776 cybercrime – related offenses were recorded by the PNP.
This year 2018, there are already more than 4,000 offenses recorded. By the year 2023, or five
years from now, cybercrime incidents is expected to rise by 6,000 recorded cases. Thus,
cybercrime in the country is very alarming due to the increase and advancement of ICT and
increase of criminality in the country due to overpopulation.

9. Illegal Drug
According to the reports of the Dangerous Drugs Board a few years ago, there were about
2 to 3 million Filipinos who were drug pushers and more than 2 million Filipinos were illegal drug
users. The use of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu has become the “most popular drug
of abuse” in the Philippines. Shabu is usually prepared and distributed by shabu laboratories
manned by mostly Chinese nationals and a few Filipinos. Some of the shabu laboratories and drug
dens were already raided and the people involved in these illegal drugs were arrested.

Marijuana is the second favorite business of Filipinos in the country, especially in the
countryside. According to the PNP about 70 percent of marijuana supply in the world might come
from the Cordillera region because there were marijuana plantations that have been found in the
cordillera farmlands in the past. Ecstasy is another illegal drug that is being famously used by
popular personalities and well-to-do people because of its high price in the market.

MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as Ecstasy (abbreviated E, X,

or XTC), molly (U.S.), or mandy (U.K.), is a psychoactive drug with stimulant and psychedelic
effects that is primarily used as a recreational drug. Drugs sold under street names ecstasy, molly,
or mandy are often advertised as pure MDMA, but are often mixed with multiple other drugs.
MDMA can cause feelings of euphoria (extreme happiness) and altered sensations. Bad side
effects include insomnia, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and addiction. It causes an initial increase in
neurotransmitters that is followed by a short-term drop in neurotransmitters, which can lead to
severe depression after coming down from the high.

MDMA is illegal in most countries including the Philippines. Possessing, making or selling
it could result in criminal prosecution and a possible prison term. Some countries, such as the
U.S., have made limited exceptions to these laws for research. There have been some initial
studies on whether it can help patients with severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) make
progress in therapy if they take very low doses of MDMA immediately before appointments
(under medical supervision). As of 2018, MDMA has no accepted medical uses.

Ecstasy has very serious effect on the human body and brain. It makes the brain release
the chemicals serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. During MDMA use the body also makes
more of the hormone’s oxytocin and vasopressin.
All these effects together can make MDMA dangerous to use. The change in body temperature
and the tendency to dance for hours on end can make users dehydrate if not enough water is
drunk during this time (an example of dehydration and hyperthermia). Lots of dancing can also
put pressure on the heart. People with existing heart conditions are vulnerable to these negative
side effects.
This year 2018 around 7 people died out of every million that use MDMA. Mostly this is due to
overheating and dehydration. However, it is possible to drink too much water, swelling the brain
and causing death. Many people have died from this after taking MDMA. Another factor is the
hormone vasopressin, which is released during MDMA use. Vasopressin restricts the body’s urge
to urinate, which helps to get rid of excess liquid in the body before it becomes a problem.

There had already been arrested made in concerts, dancing halls, bars and restaurants,
including prostitution and drug dens but still many drug pushers and users keep on violating the
law.

Related to illegal drug issue is the famous (or is it infamous) “war on drugs” of the present
administration. Exasperated by the illegal drugs menace in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte
has waged an all-out campaign against it since he assumed office. But it was temporarily
suspended on January 30, 2017, when Duterte instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to
first rid its ranks of corrupt personnel. This is after some policemen reportedly got involved in the
kidnap and murder of a South Korean businessman. This case has not yet been completely solved
by incarcerating those involved in the case.
Weeks later, on February 27, 2017 the President allowed PNP back into the “war on drugs” but
with limited participation through smaller task forces.
On March 6, 2017 the PNP officially re launched its participation, in a campaign dubbed Oplan
Double Barrel Alpha Reloaded.

Here are the latest number of deaths based on data from the PNP. This number will be updated
regularly by the students.

Death toll

Data below is as of April 23, 2017, 6 am.

162 suspected drug personalities killed in police operations, since March 1, 2017 up to
April 23, 2017.

The PNP initially started keeping track of Double Barrel Alpha Reloaded statistics from
March 6, based on messages sent to the media. But in its data update on March 30, the PNP
adjusted the start date to March 1.

Before the suspension of PNP’s anti-drug operations, there had been over 7,000 deaths
linked to the “war on drugs” – both from legitimate police operations and vigilante-style or
unexplained killings (including deaths under investigation) from July 1, 2016 to January 31,
2017.

Below are the figures based on revised PNP data at the end of the period:

7,080 total number of people killed in #WarOnDrugs since July 1, 2016

2,555 suspected drug personalities killed in police operations, as of January 31, 2017
3,603 victims in cases of deaths under investigation, as of January 9, 2017
922 victims in cases where investigation has concluded, as of January 9, 2017

As of 6 AM of September 14, 2017 the number of suspects killed in police operations

reached 1,506. But during a Senate probe on extrajudicial killings that day, PNP Chief Ronald dela
Rosa said that after validation by its Directorate for Operations, the figure was corrected to only
1,105 deaths.
‘Double Barrel’ and ‘Tokhang’ Campaign
The PNP calls its campaign against illegal drugs as “Oplan Double Barrel.”
Meanwhile, Project “Tokhang” – a contraction of “toktok” and “hangyo” (Visayan words
for “knock” and “request” respectively) – refers to the strategy of the police nationwide to go
house-to-house in their jurisdictions and convince known drug pushers and users to surrender
and change their ways.
On October 26, 2017 the PNP launched Phase 2 of Olan Double Barrel. After this, the
statistics that the PNP started sending to media were “reset” to zero. For this purpose, figures
from Phase 2 of Oplan Double Barrel were added to the final figures of Phase 1 as of October 26,
2017
But on November 2, 2017 the PNP returned to its cumulative count by the PNP and PDEA.
Some of those killings was reported as “extra-judicial killings” or famously known as EJK.
10. Extrajudicial Killings (EJK) and Forced Disappearance
Both are considered unlawful or felonious killings because they are done outside the
realm of courts or done without due process of law. EJK and forced disappearance are form of
extrajudicial punishment and include extrajudicial executions, summary execution, arbitrary
arrest and detentions, and failed prosecution due to political activities of leading political, trade
union members, dissident and/or social figures, left –wing political parties, non-governmental
organizations, political journalist, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, agricultural reform
activists, members of organizations that are allied or legal fronts of the communist movement
like “Bayan group” or suspected supporters of the NPA and its political wing, the Communist
Party of the Philippines(CPP).

Extrajudicial killings are most commonly referred to as “salvaging” in Philippine English.

The word is believed to be a direct Anglicization of Tagalog salbahe (“cruel”, “barbaric”), from
Spanish salvage (“wild”, “savage”).

Extrajudicial killings (EJKs) is also synonymous with the term “extralegal killings” (ELKs).
Extrajudicial/ extralegal killings (EJKs/ ELKs) and enforced disappearances (EDs) are unique in the
Philippines in as much as it is publicly and commonly known to be committed also by non-state
armed groups (NAGs) such as the New People’s Army (NPA) and the More Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF). Though cases have been well documented with conservative estimates of EJKs/ ELKs and
EDs committed by the NPAs numbering to about 900-1,000 victims based on the discovery of
numerous mass grave sites all over the country. Legal mechanism for accountability of non-state
actors have been weak if not wholly non-existent.
This issue of EJK has not been solved up to this date (2018).

11. Violence Against Women

Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence, is collectively,
violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. Sometimes considered
a hate crime, this type of violence targets a specific group with the victim’s gender as a primary
motive. This type of violence is gender-based, meaning that the acts of violence are committed
against women expressly because they are women. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence Against Women states, “violence against women is a manifestation of historically
unequal power relations between men and women” and “violence against women is one of the
crucial social mechanism by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with
men.”

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared in a 2006 report posted on
the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) website:
Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every
three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her
lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her.

Violence against women can fit into several broad categories. These include violence
carried out by “individuals” as well as “states”. Some of the forms of violence perpetrated by
individuals are: rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, reproductive coercion, female
infanticide, prenatal sex selection, obstetric violence, and mob violence; as well as harmful
customary or traditional practice such as honor killings, dowry violence, female genital
mutilation, marriage by abduction and forced marriage. Some forms of violence are perpetrated
or condoned by the state such as war rape: sexual violence and sexual slavery during conflict;
forced sterilization; forced abortion; violence by the police and authoritative personnel; stoning
and flogging. Many forms of VAW, such as trafficking in women and forced prostitution are often
perpetrated by organized criminal networks.
 The World Health Organization (WHO), in its research on VAW, has analyzedand
categorized the different forms of VAW occuring through all stages of life form before bith to
old age.

In recent years, there has been a trend of approaching VAW at an international level,
through instruments such as conventions; or, in the European Union through directives, such
as the directive against sexual harassment, and the directive against human trafficking.

The 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the National Statistics
Office (NSO) now called Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported in 2014 that it introduced
the “Women Safety Module” which aims to capture the extent and types of VAW experienced
by women (15-49 years old). Information was collected on spousal violence – covering all forms
of VAW: 1) Physical violence 2) Sexual violence; 3) Emotional violence; 4) Economic violence (the
3rd and 4th forms of VAW were grouped together in the survey as “other forms of violenc”). The
module also include questions on marital control, which may fall either under
emotional/psychological violence or economic or economic violence.

Physical Violence
• The Domestic Household Survey (DHS) revealed that one in five women aged 15-49 has
experienced physical violence since age 15; 14.4 percent of married women have
experienced physical abuse from their husbands; and more than one-third (37%) of
separated or widowed women have experienced physical violence, implying that domestic
violence could be the reason for separation or annulment.

Sexual Violence
• One in twenty-five women age 15-49 who have ever had sex ever experienced forced first
sexual intercourse
• One in ten women age 15-49 ever experienced sexual violence

Physical Violence During Pregnancy

• Overall, 4 percent of women who have ever been pregnant have ok experienced physical
violence during pregnancy. The incident increases slightly with number of living children;
decreases slightly with age; decreases with education level; and declines steadily with
wealth quintile

12. Violence in Schools

Schools play a major role in the education of people, especially children and adults and
therefore, it is expected that they are safe havens for learners. Violence in schools started many
years back are continuously happening up to the present. Shouting’s, stabbing, fighting and even
suicides often occur daily. Some died, some were seriously injured. Classmates, schoolmates and
terrorists are the common culprit of school violence. It is even reported that schools are no longer
a very safe place for studying and learning for pupils and students. Some teachers and
administrators have been murdered inside the school campus.
For this reason, the Department of Education (DepEd) ordered the creation of CPC, in every
school when it issued Department Order No.40 on May 14, 2012 and adopted its policy and
guidelines in protection of children in school from abuse, violence, exploitative, discrimination,
bullying and other form of abuse.
 Citing a DepEd report, Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas said that some 31 incidents of
bullying are reported every day in schools.
A total of 6,363 cases of bullying in public as well as private elementary and high schools were
recorded in 2014, up nearly 21 percent versus 5,236 documented in 2013,” he said in a
newspaper report.
“Based on a cycle of 201 school days, this translates to at least 31 incidents of bullying every
day,” he said
He surmised that the number could be more.
“We presume that out of fear of possible retaliation, many victims are still reluctant to complain
of bullying in school,” he added.
13. Squatting in the Philippines
Squatting is a huge social and economic problems in the Philippines, more so because
squatters are protected by laws that make it difficult to remove them from properties they infest.
Presidential Decree 772 (PD 772) effected by former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1975 made
prosecuting “squatting and other criminal acts” relatively easy. Squatting under PD 772 was
clearly a criminal undertaking as Section 1of the decree states...
“Any person who, with the use of force, intimidation or threat, or taking advantage of the
absence or tolerance of the landowner, succeeds in occupying or possessing the property of the
latter against his will for residential commercial or any other purposes, shall be punished by an
imprisonment ranging from six months to one year or a fine of not less than one thousand nor
more than five thousand pesos at the discretion of the court, with subsidiary imprisonment in
case of insolvency.”
If the report of the Metro Manila Intra-Agency Committee on Informal Settlers (MMIAC) is
to be believed, then one (1) out of every five (5) residents in Metro Manila is a squatter. In other
words, there are more than 544,609 household of informal settlers (squatters) in Metro Manila,
representing about 21% of the total 2.6 million household’s population in that city.
14. Street Children
They are mostly the children of poor families, broken families, product of prostitutions,
and others who work in the street selling or begging. Others are being used by adults or their
parents to beg for them or to earn a living. The End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT)
showed that the Philippines had more than 2 million children living or working in the street of
about 65 Cities. Metro Manila alone had at least 7,000 street children since 2000 approximately
70% of the children are boys. Our concern to street children is that some of them are sexually
exploited, driven to commit a crime or prostitution. They do not work only as beggars but as
pickpockets, snatchers, thieves, robbers and pimps. A few of them use illegal substance.
According to the “A Better Life” foundation, there are three different categories of street
children:
• Children on the streets make up approximately 75% of the street children in the
Philippines. They work on the streets but do not live there. They generally have a home to
return to after working, and some even continue to attend school while working long hours
on the streets.

• Children of the streets make their homes on the streets. They make up 25%-30% of the
street children in the Philippines. They often create a sort of family with their fellow street
 children. Some of them still have family ties, but may either rarely tend to them or view
them negatively.

• Completely abandoned Children have no family ties and are entirely on their own for
physical and psychological survival. They make up approximately 5%-10% of the street
children in the Philippines.

15. Illegal Gambling

Illegal gambling is a crime and those who commit such crime are arrested and prosecuted.
Gambling per se is a crime because there is betting – and betting is a form of gambling. Gambling
is allowed when it is allowed by law and compliance with the legal requirements of the law or
ordinance.
The government promotes casino operations, lottery (sweepstake, lotto and other forms),
jai-alai, text gambling, but ban “jueteng.” Jueteng is rampant even now in some regions of the
country. The police force could not totally eradicate this form of gambling because it is the
favorite game to win by many average and low-earners in the locality moreover, it is funded by
gambling lords and supported by some unscrupulous government officers, police and military
officials. Thus, jueteng is a never-ending game like illegal drugs, criminality, graft and corruption
and other issues and concerns.
16. Fake products and other items
If there are fake news, there are also fake products, fake money, fake logos, fake brands,
etc. All these fake matters have started in the past and are still being done today. It has never
been stopped due to bribery and corruption. Philippine and foreign currency bills are often
counterfeited.
The Brand Protection Association (BPA) composed of multinational companies based in
the Philippines said that counterfeiting and even piracy is not limited to CD’s, VCD’s and
computer software but also affects top brands of garments, bag, wallets, medicines, shoes,
LPGs, batteries, lamps, bulbs and switches, brandy, vodka, cigarettes, soaps, shampoos, laser
printer toners, ink cartridges, sofa beds, hacksaws, toys and electronic goods.
As a result of counterfeiting and piracy, the government is losing about P1.5 billion pesos
in potential revenues annually. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies are losing revenues due to
fake drugs and smuggled medicines because about 30 to 40 percent of total products in the
pharmaceutical sector is being lost due to counterfeiting and piracy.

17. Working Children

Many children are working especially nowadays to earn a living for themselves and/or for
their families. This is a very critical poverty incidence and a critical issue and concern in the
country today. According to Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA), about 4 to 5 million out of a
total of 25 million in 2001 were working during the time when they are supposed to be in school.
Most of them working children were males, aged 10 to 17 years old, unskilled, unpaid They
worked as farmers, fishermen, hunters, vendors and factory workers. They did heavy physical
work, faced physical hazards, suffered injuries at work and suffered work-related illness. They
were forced to work because their parents could not find work or the family’s income cannot
support the family needs.

18. High Prices of Commodities

 According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), prices of commodities increased
by only 6 percent since 2001 particularly the prices of fuel, light and water, rice, appliances,
agricultural products and manufactured items. Rice reportedly cost 3 times as much as it does in
Thailand. Even the prices of branded medicines, they increased 3x as much as they were in India.
In December 2017, the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index CCPD for all items and housing,
water, electronics, gas and other fuel at the national level both went up by 0.3 percent. Likewise,
the year-on-year growth of General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) at the national level went up
by 3.9 percent in September 2017. This means that the average Filipino income earner is
becoming poor yearly.

The saddest state is that even generics medicine, especially those maintenance medicines
being used by many senior citizens suffering from cardio-vascular diseases, also increased. Such
increase in their prices makes these medicines less affordable to those senior citizens who are
supposed to benefit from the law.
19. Traffic Congestion
Traffic congestion has been a permanent problem due to the increase of population and
volumes of cars but no or less increase in the width of highways, streets and water passageways.
According to the study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in the
Philippines was losing about P140 billion annually to traffic congestion. This means that the
national economy is directly losing P40 billion in the form of lost gasoline and diesel fuel, man-
hours, electricity, salaries of traffic aides and increased expenses for mobile phones.

Indirectly the country losing P100 billion in the form of lost business opportunities,
depreciated value of real property and increased cost of health care due to pollution caused by
traffic problems.

Due to traffic congestion, the average speed of a vehicle has showed down to 13
kilometers per hour today from 18 kilometers per hour 10 to 15 years ago.
According to Jon Viktor Cabuenas in a GMA news report, the streets of metro manila alone is
costing the Philippine at least P2.4 billion a day, the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) cited in a study it released in September 2014 in conjunction with the National Economic
Development Authority (NEDA).
A year later, NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan estimated the economic loss from traffic
jams at P3 billion a day, saying the amount is equivalent to 0.8 percent of the gross domestic
product.
JICA noted that the economic cost of the daily gridlock is likely to reach P6 billion a day by 2030.
With this problem and issue, there should be a down-to-earth solution, a fast and serious
solution, and not just press release intervention.

20. Tax Evasion

There were about 15-18 million salaried workers in the country in the latter part of the
year 2000. Of this number, only about 3-4 million usually paid income taxes. Senator Ralph Recto
disclosed in 2000 that 57 percent of salaried and non-salaried workers (like businessmen and
professional doctors, engineers and lawyers in the private sectors) failed to settle their individual
income taxes in 2000. According to the Department of Finance (DoF), some P245 billion pesos in
potential government revenue is late to tax evaders yearly; some P70 billion pesos was lost due
to leakage in the value-added tax; P60 billion in corporate income tax; P7 billion in personnel
income tax; P3 billion in excise tax; P7 billion in documentary tax; P2 billion in interest withholding
tax on bank deposits; P3 billion fringe benefits tax; P2 billion in gross receipts tax and P371 million
in insurance tax.

Recent statistics reveal that in 2016, less than a third of Filipinos pay income tax. This
means that only 30 million out of the estimated 103 million Filipinos are registered taxpayers.

The BIR noted that overseas Filipino workers and a bigger portion of individuals classified as
minimum wage earners were not subject to income tax. The BIR is embarking on a year-long tax
campaign to boost revenues and expand the tax net. Others who are not registered with the BIR
but should pay income tax belong to the underground economy. The BIR is embarking on a year-
long tax campaign to boost revenues and expand the tax net.

21. Deployment of Filipino entertainers abroad

Many of the Filipino women worked as entertainers abroad especially in Japan such that
they were called “Japayukis.” The Philippine government allows its deployment of Filipino women
as going as 18 years old. Several issues came out regarding the deployment of women as
entertainers abroad. One issue is the alleged delaying on the issuance of Certification to young
Filipino women to work as entertainers or “overseas performing artists” in Japan sometime in
2002.

The Philippine Association of Recruitment Agencies Deploying Artists or PARADA accused

TESDA officials for deliberately delaying the issuance of the Artist Record Books (ARB) Certificates
to prospective performing artists.
The ARD is needed to get a visa from Japan embassy. The PARADA alleged that some TESDA
officials demanded P25,000 for an ARB, instead of only P300 from each applicant. Such alleged
irregularity in TESDA resulted to the lost of earning about US $1,800 a month for the Filipino
income applicants.

But the second issue is not the delay in the issuance of ARB certificate but their
deployment to work as prostitutes or sex workers in other countries. Many of the women who
served as entertainers abroad were vulnerable to abuse and some were even driven to
prostitution by Japanese Yakuza gang.
According to the Movement for Responsible Enterprise (MORE), a civic group of concerned
citizens, the Philippine government provided cover to save Japan from embarrassment of hosting
Filipino prostitutes in Japan. MORE stated that the government made them appear like
performing artists but sent to Japan as entertainers.

There are many ways of getting rich, with less energy and sweat. This was how the
corporate watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) described the usual promise
made by pseudo-investment firms in luring the public to invest substantial amount in their get-
rich-quick schemes.

The SEC warned that pseudo-investment firms that are not registered with the
government offices have already duped many investors, including foreigners and Filipino-
Americans. Some victims who have placed investments ranging from P10, 000 to 50 million, were
not able to recover their money and its supposed interest.

The SEC has already issued ceased-and-desist orders (CDOs) on the operations of several
pseudo-investment firms that have been in operation without licenses. According to the
corporate watchdog , some of these firms act as lending investors, investment firms, and financial
companies that issue securities to the public. The companies promote their services by telephone
calls, mails or personal visit and usually offer investors huge interest on every investment placed,
without explaining the risk involved. They also require immediate investments.

The pseudo-investment firms give promise that a minimum investment of P10,000 to

100,000 would earn a monthly interest of 15 percent. Among the promotional gimmicks of these
pseudo-investment firms are seminars that use the line “You can become a millionaire in three
years” and “You can turn your financial dreams into reality”. Investors usually discover that they
have been duped only when the checks issued to them bounced.

As of January 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the government
corporate watchdog said that investment firms engaged in the so-called pyramiding operations
have duped at least 2 million Filipinos of as much as P70 billion.

Even now, there are still pyramiding scam in the provinces duping “innocent” people
wanting to get rich quickly. This problem, issue and concern has not been completely stopped,
especially that the government’s attention is more on drugs and corruption.

22. Food Crisis Issue

According to Anthony Chase Lin (2016), a lower middle-income country, the Philippine has
a food deficit that exacerbated by the combined effects of man-made and natural disasters that
include earthquakes, typhoons and armed conflict.
As one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, it ranks third out of 171 countries on the
2015 World Risk Index and fourth out of 188 countries on the 2016 Global Climate Risk Index.
The Mindanao region has suffered from over four decades of armed conflict, resulting in internal
displacements and overall deterioration of living standards.
The people of the Central Mindanao region are the country’s poorest.
The World Food Program (WFP) works closely with the Government of the Philippines, other
United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and communities to support poor and
vulnerable people in the Philippines, particularly those affected by the conflict in the Mindanao
region.

23. Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a social crime that is plaguing our country today because of the influx of
social media gadgets and other online technology in the market.
As reported by Emmanuel Tupas (2016), causes of cyberbullying have increased by 70.74 percent
in 2016. The Philippine National Police-Anti Cybercrime Group (ACG) said.

A total of 782 cases were reported to the ACG in 2016, significantly higher than the 458
incidents recorded in 2015. A majority of the cases involved online libel with 498, an increase of
60,12 percent compared to the previous year’s 311 cases.
Next is online threat which increased by 96.22 percent, 106 cases in 2015 to 208 in 2016. Cases
of unjust vexation spiked by 39.39 percent, from 33 in 2015 to 46 in 2016. This year 2018,
cyberbullying increase by 55 percent. It is widely known that face-to-face bullying can result in
long-term psychological harm to victims, including low self-esteem, depression, anger, school
failure and avoidance and in some cases, school violence or suicide.

In fact, in a study of over 3,000 students, one researcher found that 38% of bully victims
felt vengeful, 37% were angry, and 24% felt helpless. According to a 2001 fact sheet on juvenile
bullying produced by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency
Prevention, victims of schoolyard bullying fear going to school and experience loneliness,
humiliation, and insecurity. Moreover, they tend to struggle with poor relationships and have
difficulty making emotional and social adjustments. This evidence is also true in Philippine
situation

Cyberbullying is even more harmful to young people than face-to-face bullying for a number of
reasons:
• Permanence: The insults, comments or images can be preserved by the person who was
bullied or by others so that the victim may read or view them over and over again and the
harm is re-inflicted with each reading or viewing.

• Audience size: The size of the audience that is able to view or access the damaging
material increases the victim’s humiliation.

• Familiarity: Many young people are friends with or know their cyber bully either through
school or other personal connections, increasing the potential for embarrassment and
humiliation

• Social Networking: Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace allow cyber
bullies to engage in campaigns against a particular person which may involve many others.

• Speed: The speed at which harmful messages can reach large audiences also plays a major
part in making cyberbullying so damaging to the targets.

24. Social Media Issues

Many parents worry about how exposure to technology might affect children’s
developmentally. We know our preschoolers are picking up new social and cognitive skills at a
stunning pace, and we don’t want hours spent glued to an iPad to impede that. But adolescence
is an equally important period of rapid development, and too few of us are paying attention to
how our teenager’s use of technology – much more intense and intimate than a 3-year-old playing
with dad’s iPhone – is affecting them. In fact, experts worry that the social media and text
messages that have become so integral to teenage life are promoting anxiety and lowering self-
esteem, more than this, children and adults have less time in studying their lessons, doing their
assignments and working on their projects and other homework. In the classroom some students
plug their ears with earphone to listen to music instead of carefully and attentively listening to
class activities.

Others are texting while classes are going on. Instead of personally relating themselves to
people trying out their human and social skills, they instead do their texting and chatting on the
phone. Teens keep themselves busy with their phones instead of listening to radio and television
programs and news reporting. Only a few of the students now go to libraries, read books,
newspapers and magazines. They just depend on Facebook and on the internet. At home and
after school, they keep themselves occupied. They have less time to exercise and do the “zumba”.
At bedtime, instead of sleeping early or doing their homework they are online with their
phones, laptop or inside the computer shops, scrolling or playing video games. Thus, the social
media have created a lot of benefits and risks today. What must be done?
25. Terrorism issue
Terrorism is a major social issue in the Philippines and is linked to the Moro conflict, abu-
sayaff, BIFF and the CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion, including the 1515 Terrorism is a crime under the
Human Security Act of 2007 and describe such acts as causing “widespread and extraordinary
fear and panic among the populace”. The first group to be officially listed as a terrorist
organization under the law is the Abu Sayyaf on September 10, 2015 by the Basilan provincial
court.
The Abu Sayyaf is a “small but terrible” group.
Their exact population is unclear but is arguably one of the smallest low less group in the
Philippines and among the violent. However, the Australian National Security (ANS) says there
are approximately 400 ASG fighters today, a figure that continues to fluctuate due to
counterterrorist effects, both local and international.

The ASG members usually are young Filipino Muslims from the Sulu Archipelago and across
the southern Mindanao region and have included foreign jihadists. They are reportedly funded
and framed by international terrorist network.
Al-Qaeda and its affiliate Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah.
The MNLF and the MILF are groups based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the
Moro people from the Central government. These groups are found in the Bangsamoro region of
Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, Palawan, Basilan and other places in Mindanao. The BIFF people
were originally members of the MILF but they separated from the leadership of the MILF due to
differences in leadership and policies.

National defence officials announced that the number of New People’s Army (NPA)
member dropped to 3,926 as of the end of 2015 from 4,443 in 2014. This report was not
consistent with those issued by the military.
According to the military reports, there were 3,200 NPA members as of the end of 2014. It was
also reported that the members of armed rebels has decreased to less than 3,000 in the first three
months of 2015. The most active armed groups fighting government forces this 2018 are the NPA
rebels. They started fighting the military men, destroying government and private properties,
killing government supporters, kidnapping men and women because of the failed peace
negotiation between the government negotiators and CPP-NDF panel. Because of NPA rebel
atrocities, President Duterte called them terrorists. The problem of armed conflict has been a
perennial problem. The Philippines is overpopulated but has a small land area which is impossible
to divide it for the armed groups advocating their own motives. They are all Filipinos fighting with
each other – something out of logic. Much more, the recurring armed conflict between the
national government and the rebel force would cost South Western Mindanao over P100 billion
in the next 10 years (2017-2027) in terms of lost or stagnant investments. This is already a lot of
money for additional salaries of government employees and construction and improvement of
infrastructural projects.

26. The Marawi City Crisis

The marawi siege in which at least 500 people were killed and thousands displaced was a
lesson for every Filipino, especially the defense departments, according to Secretary Lorenzana.
Defense Secretary Lorenzana said that what happened in Marawi is a lesson for everyone in the
defense department. He admitted that the Marawi Crisis was a failure of intelligence.

27. Issue on low salaries

Low salary, lack of incentive for skilled workers and rising cost of living in the Philippines
are some of the factors that drive away Filipino laborers to other places in the country or in other
countries, leaving vacant positions to some employees who cannot afford to go abroad or
elsewhere.

According to Gerard Seno of TUCP Associated Labor Unions, with a measly P466 a day
minimum wage in Metro Manila, the highest in the country, which is not even half of the
government prescribed minimum of P1,200 a day for a family of six to survive, many Filipinos
will still gamble their fate abroad leaving more vacancy in the country.

But mostly employers are against wage increase. They said that increasing minimum wage
too much can have severe effects for small business. Increases in payroll expense often require
small business owners to raise consumer price on goods and services to reduce business cost. It
may also result in small business laying off employees. Wage increases can also push employee’s
annual income into higher tax bracket, thereby having high marginal tax rate on the employee.
Employees will also face higher payroll taxes or contributions in the SSS, Pag-ibig, Philhealth and
other contributions of the employee.

As to comparability of salaries and benefits between government employees and private

sector employees, overall government employees enjoy excellent benefits and job security than
employees in the private sector.

As to job security, government jobs are generally more stable and permanent unless an
employee commits gross errors or illegal actions. In the private sector, no one is assured of a
permanent position, even if one is a leader of a license from the PRC.

28. Issue on Contractualization

Organized labor groups want it to end contractualization to force enterprises to hire
workers for longer term periods. Many labor supporters and sympathizers are also critical of the
order. They see it as a continuation of the same contractualization practices, even with the
termination of “endo”.

Business enterprises find labor costs to be high in relation to productivity. A major reason
is the high labor standards that have accumulated through the years of rising labor welfare
legislation – from minimum wages, pension deductions, to vacation leaves to 13th month pay.
Many local businesses are apprehensive that shouldering the cost of regularization of employees
would result to less hiring and/or retrenchments.

Foreign investor groups already operating in the country are less bothered. As long as
they can continue to hire their labor force, there are complaint with the changes.

The Labor contracting that many foreign investors have been undertaking would
continue without much disturbance. Moreover, their pay structures are, in general, able to deal
with the cost of hiring labor which, from their viewpoint, remains affordable.

Of course, the foreign direct investments the country attracts depends on the choices
about costs that the investors prefer and the industry they are in. Many investors in the
garments industry are not present in the country, but semiconductor assemblers are plentiful.
Foreign investments that depend on much lower labor costs would be squeezed somewhat
harder.
 Among local enterprises that do business mainly in the local economy, there is great
sensitivity to the new policy. Some of the businesses are very sensitive to the cost of labor and
the hiring practices that they have developed over time.

In general, many of the larger domestic enterprises serving the local market would
survive some of the changes in the labor policy.

This is not the case with small enterprises. Will they survive a change in their framework,
or will it mean their demise into the informal sector of the economy?

Many small and medium scale domestic enterprises will face a rising cost of hiring labor.
Those unable to adjust to these circumstances would simply have to dispense with additional
hirings or evaporate into informality.

In general, the worse hit among the stakeholders is the worker who could be forced out
of a job. (Gerardo P. Sicat, Philippine Star, March 27, 2017)

29. Issue on fare hike

The issue of raising fares in buses, jeepneys and taxis is a “never ending” issue. Yearly, the
drivers are asking a fare hike from the LTFRB. This 2018, the proposal of drivers is to increase the
minimum fare from P8 to P10 however, the LTFRB deferred such fare hike hearing because it
wants the operators to improve their services first. The LTFRB personnel pointed out that the
public expects a better service from the increase of the fare. The drivers and operators want
increase in fare because there is a rapid increase of vehicle parts and diesel which require the
immediate recovery of cost of operating the units. Ultimately, the LTFRB is requiring those asking
for fare to show clear and real evidence for citing an increase.

30. Issue on K to 12 curricula

There was a collective sigh of relief from educators when President Rodrigo Duterte, a
month before assuming office in 2016, decided to support the K to 12 programs. They believed
the education reform was long overdue.

But during his 100-minute-long State of the Nation Address in July 2016, there was no
mention of the K to 12 program – a landmark legislation that was almost a staple in former
President Benigno Aquino III’s SONAs.

Instead, what Duterte announced was a two-liner on education priorities for his first year
in office: increased spending on basic education, mandatory education on the evils of drugs, and
the Alternative Learning System.

Under the Duterte administration, people no longer talked as much about the
controversial K to 12 programs. Nevertheless, there are still issues haunting the displaced
instructors and professors who have been teaching in private schools for many years, some of
them were about to retire. With the implementation of the K-12, the number of subjects they
used to handle decreased. A few of them were forced to retire or resigned. There were
scholarships granted by CHED but there are qualifications such as age, teaching ability – and
probably loyalty to the school and the intention to return the service it benefited.
31. Energy crisis in the Philippines

Here are some related issues concerning power crisis:

1. Summer brownouts is always expected. Technically brownouts are called voltage

reductions or power outages due to reasonable dry spell and major gas production facility
supplying power plants. This is done, according to power plants officials so that electricity
reserves will be running low enough that a random “tripping” of a power plant might cause
widespread outages.
2. The ouster of President Marcos led to the cancellation of a controversial nuclear power
plant. (an example is in Botoan) and no new capacity was built.
3. It takes 165 signatures and a minimum of 3 years to secure the necessary permits for the
operation of coal plants. Activists are against the putting up of a coal plant. There is also
red tape in securing permits.
4. Reluctance of some investors in the face of contractual and prising insecurity. It was
reported that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has been slow to approve cost
recovery delaying rate changes in the face of increasing generation cost.
5. During predicted shortages, large establishments such as shopping malls, super markets,
factories, etc., do not voluntarily interrupt their power from the main grid. They do not
start running their generators when an outage occurs.
6. Presidents are not given emergency powers to fast track contracts for new power
generation due to suspicion of the opposition of increased presidential powers.