Glaring
The Philippines would reach first-world status in 20 years, so the President declared during her State-of-the-Nation Address. Income per capita would then be $20,000.“By then, poverty shall have been marginalized; and the marginalized raised to a robust middle class,” she added.
Ambitious targets are fine. They push people to do more than what they think they can do. They paint a rosy picture of the future and offer a comforting thought that good times are forthcoming.
But many say that to be able to achieve the ideal status, the Philippines would have to grow at an unprecedented double-digit rate annually, faster even than China’s or Vietnam’s. Even the International Monetary Fund forecasts a growth of only 6 percent in 2007 and 2008.
And now, an Ibon survey says nearly eight out of 10 Filipinos consider themselves poor. This is not the kind of news that goes well with the first-world objective.
There will be, of course, the usual questions on the methodology and the motives of the think tank behind the survey. The fact, however, is that the perception—while it is precisely that—has worsened from 68 percent in January and 69 percent in the same period last year.
Lack of livelihood opportunities in the country is cited as the cause for the overall sentiment.
No survey result should be interpreted as an absolute, yet this latest one is just so glaring amid the optimistic pronouncements of recent days. At the very least, it serves as a reminder that another benchmark may have to be used to gauge—and target—economic development.
Per capita income is a convenient planning tool, but perhaps we need something else to make sure the gains of this nation are shared equitably among the population.
