Eighty four percent, 92.28 percent, 92.6 percent – these numbers are high enough to look at, especially for an average UP student. For a UP grade, it could range from 1.25 to 1.75, enough for an individual to gain a cum laude standing.
But, are they really high enough? If a UP student can gain honors for these percentages, would a country gain honors for these as well? For a UP student, graduating with these grades is more than sufficient for him/her to elevate his social status, but, for a country, would these suffice to elevate its status?
According to the results of the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, NSO, which was released on February 18, 2003, the basic literacy rate of the country is 92.28 percent, or, in other words, nine out of ten Filipinos know how to read and write. At a first glance, this is high enough, indeed. But, is it really a passing grade, or a failing one?
Translating the figure into a broader picture, it would mean that out of the 76, 504, 077 Filipinos, when the time the study was conducted, there is around 7.72 percent or 5, 906, 115 people who can’t read or write. In percentage, it could be deceiving that it is just low, but, in real terms, it is not. This means that around 6 million Filipinos do not have the equipment or the tool to survive and cope up with the current trend of the world – this time of the Information Age where knowledge and education are the weapons for a better future. This picture doesn’t seem good.
To add to this, simple reading and writing is not enough to compete with other people, especially with the current flow of the world. Mathematical skills and comprehension skills are needed. However, a worse picture is waiting for us. The functional literacy rate is recorded lower than that of the basic literacy rate – it was just around 84 percent.
For a UP grade, 84 percent is high enough to have a cum laude standing, but for a functional literacy rate of the Philippines, this would mean a failing one. About two out of ten Filipinos are not functionally literate according the results of the 2003 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey, which would mean that from the time the research was conducted, 14, 153, 872 out of 88,461,700 Filipinos were functionally illiterate. If the saying is correct that “Ang edukasyon ay kayamaan,” or in English, education is a treasure, there is no doubt why a lot of Filipinos are poor base solely from the figures that are presented. In the present condition of the country wherein even a UP graduate is having a hard time to get a job and gain some income for a living, it would be hard to imagine that the lives of these 14 million Filipinos are peaceful and bountiful one.
Speaking further of jobs and incomes for living, the July 2008 Labor Force Survey was saying that 92.6 percent of the 58, 119, 000 million Filipinos which comprise the labor force are employed. For an instance of a glance, this figure is also good – for a UP student, this is a grade of 1.25 which could gain him a magna cum laude title – but for deeper look, this doesn’t seem well. There is still a 7.4 percent unemployment rate which does not just accounted for a hundreds or thousands of Filipinos, but millions of Filipinos (around 4, 300, 806 Filipinos).
It is a fact that if there is no job, there is no income, and if there is no income, an individual has no capacity to buy food and other necessities. Four million Filipinos that are starving is not a good sight, but, what is worst about the scenery doesn’t end there yet. This four million people still has children to feed. Together with them, these children starve and the number of people who suffer increases, not just by hundreds or thousands but, by millions. Furthermore, food is not just the only necessary things that a family should buy to be able to live, at least, decently. A family should also buy clothes, shelter, water, etc. Without income, those families of the unemployed people are lacking these basic necessities. Massive poverty is in the scenery.
But, not just the 4 million Filipinos are in or below the poverty line, even some of those who are employed which comprise the employment rate of 92.6 percent do belong. With the 92.6 percent employment rate, 21.0 percent are underemployed, and, aside from this, the largest comprising occupation groups of the employment rate belongs to the low income jobs like unskilled workers and laborers (largest with 32.4%) and farmers, forestry workers and fishermen (second to the largest with 17.7%).
The employment rate, even if it seems like a high one, is not an indicator that the lives of the Filipinos are going well. Being employed, per se, for an individual, is not also an assurance that his/her life would be in a good shape. With the basic literacy rate and functional literacy rate not good enough, there is a high possibility that the wages that are given to those who are employed are low – employers will take advantage of the mediocrity and weakness of their employees. Much more that it is evident that the largest comprising groups are low income jobs. The statistics about the income sharing in the Philippines will further show that indeed this is the reality.
According to the final results of the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, “[t]he total family income of the tenth decile of families, or the richest ten percent, was estimated at P1.08 trillion which is 36.0 percent of the total family income in 2006.” Thirty six percent is about one-third of the total income, and that part of the pie is only shared by ten percent of the Filipinos. And, about the remaining 64.00 percent or the remaining two-thirds of the pie, they are being shared by the remaining 90 percent of the Filipino families. The income of the tenth decile is 19 times of that of the first decile – a great gap. But, what is also more disturbing is that even the gap of the incomes of the ninth and the tenth decile of the Filipino families are also of great distance. The ninth decile only garners P507 billion, while that of the tenth decile has P1.082 trillion, almost twice of the ninth decile. This suggests that, aside from income inequality, there is also inequality with regards to resources and opportunities. The tenth decile large gap against the ninth decile means that the former has resources far from the latter. It could mean that there is the existence of some sort of monopoly. The tenth decile comprises of those who are executives, national politicians, and those who have foreigners in their side. Those people either monopolize the power they have, the position they are in or the education or knowledge they gain from studying in the premier Universities outside the country.
In Philippine business and politics, dynasties are seemed to be inevitable. The ownerships of companies and, even, the positions in the government are passed on to relatives. This act happens from the post of the president, as with the case of current president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and ex-president Diosdado Macapagal, up to the post of the mayor, case of Pidi and Jenny Barzaga of Dasmariñas, Cavite. The act happens from top to bottom. And, as they have the power and the money, they can also afford to let their children go to other country for a better education – an education that is more advance of what we have in the Philippines, even better compared to UP. So, with the new technocrats produced by the reigning families, they remain to monopolize the resources, opportunities and, eventually, income.
These people manage to advance further and further from the average Juan dela Cruz, because they have managed to stay in their position long enough that they become somewhat an institution in politics or in business –they become unshakeable. Positions, income, resources and opportunities do not slip from their hands. These do not rotate from class to class, from decile to decile, as if in the Philippines the saying “Bilog ang mundo” doesn’t fit. As a person becomes used to something good and comforting, it would be hard for him to let go of it and even would like to have more. Those who are elites remain elites, and those who are poor remain poor. Because of this non-rotation of resources, the gap continues to remain, and even becomes wider.
However, what is more disturbing about this inequality is that it is legitimate. In the culture of the Philippines, it seems just befitting to be family-centered. It seems just right for them to have their sons or daughters to be heirs to the company, that, sometimes, it translates to a bigger arena – to politics. More than that, even the average or the unfortunate Filipino, also has the same psyche that able them to tolerate the act of a family to build a political or business dynasty. With all freedom to choose a leader or an official, they would still choose someone whose family is already prominent in the field. The Filipinos believe in some sort of thing called “mana” or “heritage.” They believe that if the father is a good singer, the sons or daughters of that individual will also be. They believe that the sons or daughter will mana his skills.
With these, it would seem that each and every individual Filipinos has the fault of why the country is currently amidst inequality. But also, more than that, there education or literacy has something to do as well. Illiteracy is also a social illness that affects every part of the Philippine system. Without literacy and education, tradition will just be the one to surface.
Somehow, it has been a tradition of the average Filipinos to bow down to the rich people. They feel that there is a large distance – they are weak and nothing compared to the rich Filipinos. They feel that they just have to follow the mighty, as what their ancestors did. They always say to themselves “Sino ba naman ako? Isang taong mangmang upang lumaban sa isang taong may pinag-aralan. Tama siya dahil edukado siya, mali ako dahil wala akong alam.” However, it should not be. If only they have literacy and education, they will not feel that way. They will know that as an individual, they also have the power and the right to be equal with them. If only they have the literacy and education, they will be awakened that there should be an equal opportunity awaiting for them to be able to uplift themselves from where they are in now.
If they can read and write, they can read the Bill of Rights. If they are functionally literate, they can comprehend and can think for themselves the essence of the Bill. They can assert for it if they feel they are suppressed. They can assert for sufficient wages if they feel their salaries are not enough.
With literacy comes education. If a person can write, read and comprehend, they can be able to understand what is happening around, absorb and think about it. If a person could write, read and comprehend, he/she could learn by himself, just as what Andres Bonifacio did – self-study to elevate his status and of the country’s status as well.
Higher education is, of course, different with functional literacy and basic literacy, and the researcher bet that it is far way down in percentage than that of the functional literacy and basic literacy. But, as literacy is a prerequisite for education, it should be 100 percent. If one or two Filipinos are left behind, then the grade (the percentage) is still a failed one. If we have literacy on the go, education will follow. As we know, it is a fact that if education is at hand of every Filipinos, the country’s prosperity will then be next in line. If each and every one of the Filipinos is educated, none will be left behind and none will be taken advantage of. Social justice and poverty alleviation will be on the list.
Reference:
www.census.gov.ph
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I'm Paul John F. Barrosa, the author of the article above. I'm a BS Economics student at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. If you have any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions regarding to the article that you have just read a while ago, do not hesitate to e-mail me at pj_kurapika08@yahoo.com. Your inquiries will be very much appreciated and entertained. Thank you!
