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Poverty, an economic condition in which people lack
sufficient income to enjoy minimal levels of comfortable living, is
a worldwide phenomenon. Most people represented below the poverty
threshold are the jobless, underemployed and uneducated.
A nation’s economy is a measure
of wealth and poverty incidence, with countries registering a low
level of economic development having a heavier population of the
marginal poor. Among the effects of poverty are hunger and
malnutrition leading to a low lifespan of the people, crime and
other social problems, such as alcoholism and drug addiction.
Historically, the poverty problem
has been addressed by past administrations in the Philippines with
unimpressive results. The poverty rate has remained high despite
emergency job creation programs and other hunger mitigation
measures.
Solving this problem is a matter
not to be wished but to be willed.
It calls for government
creativity in adopting an anti-poverty master plan and the will to
carry it out.
President Arroyo has come out
with a concept of creating wealth and jobs through extensive
development. She has created five super regions to undertake this
massive development with the expectation of promoting job generation
and other economic opportunities.
Last week the Luzon Urban Beltway
(LUB), one of the mega regions consisting of Central Luzon, Metro
Manila, the Calabarzon, Mindoro and Marinduque, held an antipo-verty
summit in Angeles City which gave us a clear picture of its own
strategies and thrusts in fighting poverty.
Organized by two action men of
the President—Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan of the Subic-Clark
Alliance for Development Council (SCADC), and Secretary Domingo
Pangani-ban, chair of the National Antipoverty Commission (NAPC)—the
summit addressed “the gaps in the supply and demand sides of
hunger mitigation.” It called for increased food production and
improved food delivery systems while promoting good nutrition.
Pamintuan said that to facilitate
the movement of food from Central Luzon to Metro Manila, a north
food exchange has been proposed in Bulacan near the Plaridel bypass
of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) to serve as the packaging and
marketing of food products from Bulacan and nearby provinces for
shipment to Metro Manila.
The plan calls for livestock
raising, intercropping and fiber production in the coconut-producing
provinces of southern Luzon. Urban communities in the region will
push for the establishment of livelihood centers to be managed by
the communities with the help of the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (Tesda) through skills training.
On the other hand, Panga-niban
called for the irrigation of more farmlands and the construction of
more farm-to-market roads to increase food production to provide
farmers and fishermen more income. Proposed private ports will
ensure the efficient transport of food to the hungry communities of
the country.
“We will facilitate overseas
employment by a million workers each year and train four million
others in the skills they need to participate in the growth of the
services and manufacturing sectors,” Panganiban said. He added
that aggressive microfinance programs in the poorest centers of the
archipelago will increase the formation of capital and transform
jobseekers into employment generators.
The President expressed optimism
in carrying out her vision of increased delivery of social services
with the “improved performance of the national economy and the
huge savings generated by the strong performance of the peso and the
reduction of the budget deficit. Out of the P37-billion savings, P22
billion has been allocated to social services.
The key to the success of the
antipoverty program is orchestration. But more than that is the need
for action and resolve. During the summit, Pamintuan urged the
delegates to “stop the talk and start the work” in addressing
the poverty issue. “Let us stop the debates and get our act
together because our people can no longer wait,” he said.
LUB Assistant Secretary Danny
Consumido has figuratively illustrated that in addressing poverty,
the two agencies involved in the program’s implementation “will
be like cooking a bibingka, with the NAPC providing the heat below
and the LUB providing the heat above.”
This is how to get things done.
The LUB is tasked with implementing 15 mega infrastructure projects
costing P200 billion. These projects can be completed within their
given time frames not later than 2010 through hard work and dynamic
coordination.
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