The Unstable Economic Structure
Of the Philippines
By Apolinario Villalobos
An ideal economic structure is one that assumes the shape of a pyramid, with the broad base stabilized by the productive majority of the population, the midsection consisting of enterprising middle class, and the topmost by the least chunk composed of the rich. The current reality, however, has a different picture. The middle class is slowly diminishing, with significant constituents either joining the majority consisting of the poor or the minority rich. This resulted to the structure’s instability. The whole edifice is dangerously polarized and as the midsection loses its strength, it will not be for long that the topmost chunk will topple. If that happens, the structure is left only with the broad base consisting of the poor. That will what become of our country…a country of poor Filipinos!…thanks to corruption!
The economy of the Philippines is in disarray. One need not be a statistician to perceive this veracity. Prices of commodities that skyrocketed did not go back to their respective former level, but instead continue their ascent; unemployment is on the rise compounded by the number of fresh college and university graduates that steadily balloons every year; and, medium-scale entrepreneurship has waned due to globalization of trade.
One manifestation of the aforementioned phenomena is the exodus of middle-class students from private educational institutions to public schools that have reached their bursting limit. Also, the spending of both the lower and the middle class has greatly lessened due to unemployment. Add to these the dollar remittance of the modern heroes, the overseas Filipino workers, that have likewise diminished as their big bulk of source, the Middle East has long been suffering from internal political unrest.
Overall, the stability of the National Treasury has been affected, leaving the government with no other choice but regularly renew its loans that, as of latest count, already amounted to trillions of pesos. On the other hand, world banks encourage the government to renew loans, by praising the country’s improved credit reliability standing.
While the ordinary Filipinos suffer from the heavy yoke of debt, ever-rising of prices, swelling of poverty, and political instability, the corrupt government officials whose pockets are bulging with ill-gotten wealth and the exploitive rich minority, look on. For how long the ordinary Filipinos can endure the suffering before they finally lose their control, only time can tell.