The Philippines is one of only two Catholic countries in Southeast Asia. It is just a small country, but in spite of its small size, the Philippines possesses the components to be a tiger economy in Southeast Asia: skilled, hardworking human resources, vast oil reserves, mineral resources, rich marine life, fertile land, pristine beaches, and other natural resources.
But despite the abundance of natural resources, the Philippines has remained a developing country. Its struggling economy can be attributed to so many factors that only economists can articulately explain. Due to its widespread poverty, millions of Filipinos look for better economic opportunities abroad. In fact, before the covid-19 pandemic, thousands of Filipinos were leaving the country every day in search of greener pastures in other countries.
Leaving one's family behind is a hard decision to make for parents. Being thousands of miles away from loved ones for years is difficult especially for the children and their parents. These Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are considered modern-day heroes for sacrificing their lives for the brighter future of their families. OFWs have also helped in the country’s economy with their billions of dollars remittance to the country.
To have a better future for their families, millions of Filipinos dare to leave their families and try their luck in a foreign land despite the uncertainty that awaits them. There have been many cases of OFWs who have been maltreated by their foreign employers. Worse, some of them come back home in coffins. Still, millions of Filipinos have expressed interest to work abroad primarily for future financial stability for their family.
To alleviate poverty among its people, the Philippine government has invested in the education of the youth. Today college education in the county is free to poor Filipino students. Under Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, poor Filipino students can now study in State Colleges and Universities
(SUCs) for free. The government is optimistic that this free college education program may bear fruits in the future.
Perennial problems
Aside from illegal drugs, poverty is one of the perennial problems in the country. A survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that 12.4 million Filipinos considered themselves poor. The survey was conducted from April 28-May 2, 2021. Due to a lack of employment opportunities, millions of Filipinos are jobless. The current global health crisis has aggravated the unemployment in the country. With the lingering threat of the pandemic, many industries have ceased operation resulting in the loss of millions of jobs. Fortunately, some industries have reopened and the economy is slowly recovering.
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, as of June 2021, the Philippine unemployment rate is estimated at 7.7 percent, or 3.76 million Filipinos ages 15 years old and above are unemployed. And as a result, millions of Filipinos have become homeless and experienced unforced hunger once in a while. Without decent homes, some Filipinos have been forced to live in harsh environments such as under bridges, public parks, sidewalks, skywalks, along the rivers, and some of them even live in public cemeteries.
Poverty porn
People are no strangers to poverty porn. It has been used by some charitable organizations to gain empathy and get donations from people and organizations around the world. In the Philippines, poverty porn is popular among social media influencers. It is one of the most viewed content on social media like Youtube.
Filipinos, particularly social media influencers have been divided on this issue. Some are in favor of poverty porn as their content, while some are against it. Undeniably,
there are internet influencers who have the genuine intent to help poor Filipinos. With their influence and reach, internet influencers can be of great help in helping poor Filipinos magnified their sad situation.
Favorite content
To some influencers, using poverty porn as content in their vlogs is a surefire way to attract hundreds of thousands and even millions of viewers. It's been proven a tried and tested formula for drawing and gaining viewers on social media. The Filipinos, being compassionate people, are easily swayed by tearjerker stories such as poverty porn which presents the miserable plight of some Filipinos.
Many social media influencers with thousands of followers use poverty porn as their vlog content. The Filipinos, being compassionate people are easily drawn and touched by this particular niche as many of them can easily relate to poverty porn.
In the Philippines, poverty porn vlogging is one of the easiest, effective ways to earn thousands of views on social media. Unlike other niches, poverty porn does not require much effort. A vlogger needs only to identify a very poor family or individuals in a community. A certain amount of money coupled with basic necessities such as canned goods, packs of morning drinks like instant coffee, milk, or chocolate, kilos of rice, noodles, packs of sugar, and other necessities would be enough.
These food items given to the very poor family would instantly bring joy to them. Donated items may be small things but enough to get through the day. Genuine happiness is evident in the eyes of the recipients the very moment they received these blessings. The food or monetary assistance may come from different sources. It could come from philanthropist-viewers, charitable organizations, companies, or from the vloggers themselves.
Had it not for the pandemic, the Philippines could have significantly reduced its number of poor families. The country’s economic team has been able to implement poverty alleviation policies, but unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has shattered world economies including that of the Philippines.
Regardless of their intent, poverty porn vloggers deserve appreciation and gratitude. They have been instrumental in relaying the message of poverty in the country which resulted in the outpouring of support and help coming from various charitable organizations, philanthropists, and the vloggers themselves.
Despite the Philippine government’s intensified effort against poverty, it has remained a big problem in the country. The help received by poor families through vloggers may be temporary, but it would be enough for temporary relief of hunger. Besides, it’s not all about food or monetary help, rather it is the care and compassion of fellow Filipinos that also matter.
By:
Samuel A. Escabarte
samuelescabarte@gmail.com