Would you agree that Philippines appears the most impoverished and slum-ridden in Asia? (wages, cost)
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I don't think many Americans have ever had to live through a night in conditions like this, as many millions of these people have had to live their entire lives.
Actually, I like Indonesia, the worst parts are the slums in Jakarta. Granted, Jakarta gets most of the money and has a ritzy city center, but its slums are the worst in Indonesia. Did you not see the garbage village? In Jakarta? People live there as scavengers, and pick through the garbage that comes from the hotels, hospitals, houses, and businesses in the city. They sell what they can for recycling, and live in a pretty poor state. By comparison the people in the countryside may be poor, but most kampungs consider farmland to be for all the village, and they use the land all throughout and around the village to grow food. Villagers share with each other, and they take care of their less fortunate. It is actually much more civilized, in a way, than the more modern city way.
Manila is the same with respect to the first bolded. They even have a large Elite population in that city. Yet of course, the slums are extremely extensive because more and more people from the rural region (that has many millions more of people) come seeking any kind of income. This is accelerated by the sheer amount of natural disaster impacts.
Surprisingly, for a country supposedly more developed and so populated and with so many larger cities, its capital is the only city with any real elite district.
Also, I researched a lot lately and I find something rather strange. Manufacturing seems to be getting sent to ever country around except the Philippines. Even Bangladesh and Myanmar are attracting far more investments in that area. I read that for any poor nation, manufacturing is the foundation of industrialization and rising a country out of poverty.
Very interestingly, Philippines is mostly investing in business that you can categorize as 'stagnating the country' This is because they are building their economy around outsourcing and that is specifically in existance for one thing only: for low wages. This means that I have been able to determine that Philippines has set its intentions on a trajectory that is BUILT ON low wages and this is something that can't be advanced too much on, or they loose their competitive advantage. You can say they are putting a cap on their growth area. This trend is being supported by the fact that they have a power crisis which shows no sign of getting fixed for anything more than to mean the minimum needs of its huge population. Since this means no industrialization, I say it is say to say that Philippines will be the most likely in the region to stay unindustrialized. It is better off than many countries in the region already, but they are engaging in industries like manufacturing which means the sky is the limit for them. Vietnam which is still poor, as of now at least, chose to get active in diverse manufacturing is well on its way to be a lot like China, only a smaller version.
What surprises me is how several points you made, which I copied and separated with commas were a deja vu of what I read about the slums in Manila: live on dump sites, make a living off of literally scavenging through decaying trash, Water comes from municipal water supplies that is illegally tapped, shantytowns made of cheap tin is their roof and walls. Googling the search terms correctly with Manila or Philippines will turn this up in results.
The topics of hose 3 segments I have come across so many times so they seemed so familiar from my readings on Manila. The dump site especially relates to the region of Tondo, Manila. In a country like the Phils, this should not be the case, but it is despite the GDP. Unlike Africa and other regions' nations, the Phils has a comparatively high GDP, but because of a severe inequality-overpopulation-natural disaster combination issue, the Philippines actually has slums representing the worst living conditions on the planet. Slums in the Phils consist of thousands of shanty shacks built of scrap metal and anything else and crowded into areas of what are considered "dangerous" and "unsanitary" conditions. They are exposed to typhoons, flooding, fires wiping out all belongings, and also have diseases. This is probably worse than what millions of Africa have to deal with. The slum population of the country, over 22 million is equivalent to most of the population of Canada. The Phils is in the top countries for most vulnerable to climate change, much due to low capacity, competing with the worst-off African nations in the top 10, a competition that sucks to be winning at.
Your correct, the conditions I described are typical of many countries within that region. What defines a country as poorer then another is the segment of the population that may live under those conditions. For example, those conditions may be typical of 10% of the population of Philippines vs 20% of the population of Bangladesh (those numbers aren't accurate btw just for example purposes).
May I ask what sparked your interest in the Philippines exclusively out of all the countries in that region?
People living in poverty in America live relatively well compared to the worst parts of the third world. Usually the most destitute are drug/alcohol addicts or mentally ill who can't or won't go for help.
Chime in if I am wrong, Filipino readers, but I have known more than a few of them who wished they had stayed USA Commonwealth Territory, a la Puerto Rico, rather than complete independence.
Imagine a Governor Marcos indicted by the Feds on bribery and corruption charges (as happened to a recent Puerto Rico governor) and put in the white collar clink for a bit, rather than a President Marcos declaring martial law and misruling the Philippines for a decade and a half.
I would say the lack of an honest rule of law had much to do with the economic retardation of the Philippines.
Chime in if I am wrong, Filipino readers, but I have known more than a few of them who wished they had stayed USA Commonwealth Territory, a la Puerto Rico, rather than complete independence.
I would say the lack of an honest rule of law had much to do with the economic retardation of the Philippines.
No your absolutely correct. Corruption of the government is a prime reason why many of the 3rd world countries in Asia have made so little progress. The government officials have lined their pockets with billions in foreign aid that was meant for the poor.
No your absolutely correct. Corruption of the government is a prime reason why many of the 3rd world countries in Asia have made so little progress. The government officials have lined their pockets with billions in foreign aid that was meant for the poor.
Not just foreign aid.
Why would any foreign investor try to build anything there, if contracts cannot be upheld, property rights cannot be secured, and it is all dependent upon the whims of some official?
Or why would any indigenous people try to do anything to better themselves there, for that matter?
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