Development and Underdevelopment in the Philippines

Major Issues and Trends of Development and Underdevelopment

• Poverty and inequality are recurring issues in the Philippines, with poverty reduction slower than in neighboring countries
• The poverty incidence in the Philippines declined to 22.4% in the first semester of 2023, affecting about 25.24 million Filipinos
• Poverty Incidence is the proportion of Filipinos whose per capita income cannot meet basic needs
• The main characteristics of the poor include living in rural areas, working in agriculture, residing in urban slums, having large families, low education, and limited assets
• Key causes of poverty include low economic growth, weak employment generation, failure to develop agriculture, high inflation, population growth, inequality, and recurrent shocks
• The World Bank noted a two-thirds reduction in the Philippines' poverty rate between 1985 and 2018 due to economic growth and infrastructure investments

Income Inequality

• Income Inequality describes the uneven distribution of income in a population. Wealth inequality is the uneven distribution of wealth
• According to a 2022 World Bank report, the top 1% of Philippine earners captured 17% of the national income, while the bottom 50% shared only 14%
• The country's Gini coefficient is 42.3% as of 2018
• Structural factors contributing to income inequality include limited access to education and job skills, unequal access to college, gender bias, and geographical challenges

Poverty Types

• Situational Poverty is caused by a job loss, divorce, or health crises that cause economic instability
• Generational Poverty is when families have been living in poverty for more than two generations
• Absolute Poverty is a severe lack of resources, including food insecurity, homelessness, and lack of healthcare access
• Relative Poverty is living at 50% or below the average income and struggling, despite having basic needs met
• Urban Poverty isolates individuals and limits access to technology, childcare, and education
• Rural Poverty causes structural issues such as housing problems, safety risks, overcrowding, and sanitation issues

Anti-Poverty Initiatives

• R.A. 11291, or the Magna Carta of the Poor, regulates policies that aim to uplift the poor and provide sustained growth opportunities
• R.A. 8425, the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, establishes the National Anti-Poverty Commission
• Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) invests in the health and education of poor households, especially children, through cash grants
• DSWD's Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation provides medical, burial, educational, food, or financial assistance to those in crisis
• The Department of Social Welfare and Development oversees poverty reduction

Unemployment and Underemployment

• Poverty affects the unemployed, underemployed, and those lacking education, making it hard to find sufficient-wage jobs

• Unemployment and underemployment are key indicators of the Philippines' economic weaknesses

• Today, around 4 million are unemployed, and another 5 million are underemployed

• The unemployment rate hit a low of 3.1% in June, translating to 2.07 million jobless Filipinos

• Unemployment means not having a job, thus having no income source from employments, directly affecting unemployment rates

• Underemployment refers to a job below one's qualifications, which can lead to a less productive workforce. The individual doesn't get paid enough for skills they have

• The main factors driving high rates include overpopulation, a poor education system, inadequate training facilities, low foreign investments, and a lack of decent opportunities

• Lack of relevant skills, geographic mismatch, and labor market frictions exacerbate unemployment

• Investors don't want to come to the country because of corruption, harsh weather, security threats, low technology, poor infrastructure, and government interference

• The archaic Labour Code of 1974 regulates employment and is an anti-employment law framework

Labor Code Provisions

• The Labour Code of the Philippines was instituted under Presidential Decree No. 442 on May 1, 1974, to protect labour and promote employment
• Employers' six-month probationary status for employees sparks unemployment by allowing them to not bring them on full time

Contractualization

• ENDO-Contractualization is a short-term employment practice in the Philippines, where contracts span five months
• It slows down the economy, causes joblessness, and lacks employee benefits and create a disruptive work environment

Environmental Degradation

• The Philippines' agricultural sector has declined due to free market liberalization and damaging loan conditions, making the country reliant on rice imports

Healthcare

• Healthcare is out of reach for many in the Philippines due to a lack of public service investment
• Six out of 10 Filipinos who get sick die without ever seeing a doctor
• Government spending on public health was 0.56% of GDP in 2012, falling short of WHO's 5% recommendation

External Debt

• The Philippines has the one of the longest running active debt campaigns in the world and established the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) in 1987

• The country's servicing of external debt increased by 19.84 percent to $14.475 billion as of the end of October 2024

• As of end-October last year, debt service principal payments went up by 23.57 percent to $7.846 billion

• The External Debt Service Data is an indicator of debt sustainability

• External Debt Sustainability refers to a country's capacity to meet its current and future payment obligations without debt relief or extraordinary assistance

"Public Debt"

• Public Debt refers to the amount of foreign and domestic debt
• Excessive debt has a detrimental impact on productivity and economic growth

Factors Affecting Economic Growth

• Government Consumption Expenditure has a noteworthy effect on the development of a country's economy
• Inflation is defined as a gradual increase in the general level of pricing for goods and services. Inflation affects economic growth adversely
• Population Growth has a substantial positive impact on economic growth. However, population growth has detrimental long-run implications on economic growth (Pegkas, 2018)
• The Public Debt is assumed to boost the economy
• Too much borrowing may raise debt costs and affect the country's assets
• Deficits in future earnings and intergenerational injustice have recently been linked to high debt-to-GDP ratios
• The effect of public debt on economic growth in the Philippines was examined and the significant aspect of the study is that: has substantial negative correlations with actual gross domestic product and investment
• Population Growth has harmed real GDP while transparency and spending have benefited it
• Population growth is detrimental to Economic growth. It needs to impose successful population control policies

Economic and Cultural Globalization

• Economic globalization has deepened inequalities, limiting opportunities for grassroots economic empowerment which is the unequal development issue
• There is the loss local autonomy because financial institutions dictate economic policies in developing countries
• Many developing countries face unfair labor practices due to outsourcing and weak labor protections, limiting workers' ability to engage in advocacy, this is the exploitation of labor
• Industrial globalization contributes to ecological harm, affecting marginalized communities and limiting their ability to participate in sustainable development, this is the environmental degradation issue
• Trends included; Liberalization of Trade and Financial Markets, Shifts in Production and Labor Markets, Rapid Technological Advances, Impact on Climate Change

Cultural Globalization

• Some observers argue that a rudimentary version of world culture is taking shape among certain individuals who share similar values, these people are the ones who have emergence of global subcultures
• They gain access to a unique network of individuals and opportunities, these are the transnational workers

Defining Culture

• Reluctance to define exactly what is meant by the term culture, is the persistence of local culture

• Research on globalization has shown that it is not an omnipotent, unidirectional force leveling everything in its path, experiencing globalization

• Often promote a standardized and homogenized version of culture that caters to a global audience, homogenization and commodification of culture due to global mass media and consumerism

• Cross-Cultural Engagement has increased international communication

• Globalization has expanded our palates and fostered the sharing of diverse culinary traditions, Food Globalization

• Global Stock Markets is due to interconnected nature of stock markets

• Global Supply Chains involves products that like automobiles are manufactured using components from multiple countries

• Popular movies, TV shows, and music from Hollywood, Bollywood, and K-pop exemplifies cultural globalization, popular culture

• Global Travel and Tourism helps in the exchange of cultural values and ideas

Erosion of Social and Moral Values

• Social Values are defined as standards that individuals and social groups abide by to define personal perspectives and shape social order in a collective what is desirable and not desirable
• Moral Values are values that allow an individual to distinguish between right and wrong, which guides them in their decisions

Moral values in relation to development

• They are strongly related to development. In an analytic study erosion of moral and ethical values such as manners, respect, civility have negatively impacted society
• Some cultures were imminently left behind in the current century
• Nationalism show utmost sentiment towards one's home nation. In the Philippines, many were brought and revolutions began. From the works of Rizal and his compatriots, Philippine nationalism had reached its highest peak
• Colonialist Values show adoration or fixation upon a foreign culture
• Conservatism constantly upholds the status quo
• Open-mindedness means being open to possible new ideas
• Sensationalization is the act of making entertainment out of anything viral or an issue
• Crab Mentality involves mentality or habit that intends to pull others down for one's own benefit

Contemporary Social and Moral Debates in the Philippines:

• Divorce is being separated from marriage via a shorter process
• Abortion is expulsion of a forming baby inside the womb
• Same-sex marriage involves marriage between people of the same sex
• Romanticism of Child Labour is comparing a difficult life of a minor having to work as a means to illicit action from those who hail from a higher financial bracket
• Political Awareness and Activity involves being aware and active when it comes to politics
• Religion has some people using divinity as a means of justification of their inexcusable behavior.
• Education systems have debates regarding how the education system is flawed with regards to its encapsulating manner

Development Models

• Development refers to the process of creating something new and more advanced. In international relations, it was initially associated with poverty reduction to enhance social and political relations
• Capitalist Model of Development is an economic and social system where private individuals and businesses own and control the means of production, distribution, and exchange which is based on the modernist theory. Some characteristics are private economy and minimal government intervention
• Market Model of Development emphasizes free markets, competition, and minimal government intervention
• Socialist Model of Development emphasizes state ownership of production. Features are public and collective ownership of the resources

Socialist and Welfare Models

• Welfare Model of Development focuses on improving the well-being of individuals
• Sustainable Model of Development is a method of planning that aims at achieving a balance between the importance of protecting or preventing excessive harm to, the natural environment and the social and economic demands of current and future human generations
• The 2030 agenda for sustainable development has Sustainable Development Goals which helps achieve by 20230

Primary Roles of Communication in Development

Communication and Advocacy

• Advocacy seeks societal change by influencing laws and policies, bringing societal issues to light, and finding solutions, it involves efforts to amplify the voices of marginalized groups
• Communication serves as a bridge and uncovering the root causes of societal challenges is identifying the issue
• Communication helps in setting clear goals, known as setting goals and objectives
• Advocates can establish connections which is building alliances and partnerships
• Expanding its reach through various platforms strengthens advocacy
• Adaptive communication ensures the continued relevance, sustaining advocacy

Communication and Education

• Communication fosters the exchange of ideas and knowledge dissemination, crucial for both formal education the role in education
• The importance in education: access to education has been transformed and Raise public awareness of educational rights

Communication and Conflict Resolution

• Conflict resolution represents a critical aspect of communication, It involves identifying, addressing, and resolving disagreements.
• Unclear expressions can lead to confusion the Causes Of Conflict. Feedback is essential.
• It involves taking initiative to express thoughts Introduction to Proactive Communication and prevents misunderstandings this also involves in Conflict Resolution

Communication and Decision-Making

• The process of making choices by recognizing the problem, gathering information Decision making
• Functional Group Communication explains how and why communication is related to the quality of the decisions groups make, The Role is in Decision-Making
• Functional prerequisites are to understand the question and determine the characteristics of an acceptable answer

Communication and Governance

• Effective communication is essential for good governance, which is refers Governance
• Internal communication is sharing information and External communication shares interation to other sectors
• Key factors for Effective Communication in Governance is to have open responsive leadership and public awareness an knowledge

Communication and Values

• Constitute the principles or beliefs that are crucial in guiding someone's action based on what they find desirable those are what principles are
• Has two categories personal and collective what does each of the categories
• Ways people can develop values are to share mass media and interpersonal communication

Developmental Communication

• Development communication refers to the use of strategic communication to facilitate social development and alleviate social problems

History

• 1940s Foundations and post war intitiatives where rural radio pioneered communication
• 1960s-1970s Shift Towards Participatory Communication were Nora defined what communication is
• 1980s-1990s Participatory Approaches and ICT Integration where ICT introduced digital tools
• Communication can take place by providing media literacy programs due to misinformation and “fake news,” with the spread
• Modernization Theory suggests that development is a linear process or global economic those are key theories

Social Change Through Communication

• Empowerment is a multi-dimensional process that and help development
• Media can help due to diversity
• Environmentalism seeks sustainable practices those aspects of environmentalism

Entrepreneurship

• In development communication ensures to audience has access to essential information
• Policy advocacy through helping political things
• Some individuals lack access and the other sector can help

Ethics

• The dissemination of information must be ethical
• Must be transparent in DevCom by honesty
• Take Accountability in DevCom for ones communications
• Responsible messaging can not manipulate
• Must show open mindedness and cultural sensitivity for Attitudes of developmen