I.

Content
1. Describe the Pagpag eating in terms of its preparation and
nutritional content
2. What are the possible hazards that can be acquired through
eating Pagpag?
3. Whom do you think is/ are to be blamed in this situation, the
fast food chains? The government? The pagpag-eaters
themselves? Or the customers?
4. Do you think the law implemented by the government is
effective in mitigating the problem? If yes, give the strongest
arguments of the law and if otherwise, provide alternative
solutions in solving the problem?
5. Expound this statement: “Scarcity lies in the excess of
somebody which is wasted for everybody.”
6. Corroborate your discussions with other articles and
researches. Indicate your source.

II. Discussions
1. People scavenge for food leftover in the trash, clean them as best
they can, and recook them with soy, vinegar and other spices to
take away the bad smell or taste that they might have contracted
from their time in the trash, either for personal consumption or for
selling. They basically recycle the food and get the nutritional
value left in them, albeit along with any germs and bacteria that
went with the food since it was in the trash and garbage.
2. Besides malnutrition, there are multiple health hazards that can
go with the consumption of Pagpag. Toxic or poisonus substances
that come with the trash that the food was found in can cause
sicknesses and can even be fatal. Bacteria and germs promote
diseases and sicknesses but are overlooked because of the need of
the poor to eat. Worms and other parasites are also present in the
food because of the environment and the state that they are found
in. Some diseases that are commonly linked to the easting of
pagpag are Hepatitis A, typhoid, diarrhea, and cholera.

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3. I believe that everyone shares a blame in this predicament in the
Philippines. The government may have projects against the
practice of Pagpag, but due to the poor management of the
government, the poverty in the Philippines and the sorry state
that our brothers and sisters under the poverty line are
experiencing. The Pagpag eaters, on the other hand, are also at
fault because they’d rather scavenge the trash than find
alternatives like farming or finding more decent work to feed
themselves. They put themselves on a big risk by continuing this
practice rather than finding a better solution to combat their
hunger. Fast food chains are also at fault because of the way they
dispose of their leftover food. They do not dispose of it properly
which leaves it accessible to the scavengers and provides a
continuous supply of food to recycle.
4. I believe that the government can do better to solve the issues
regarding pagpag. They have various laws and ordinances but the
practice is still rampant. I believe that if they improve the garbage
disposal, the way they deal with excess food, especially from
restaurants and fast food chains, then they can better dissuade the
people who practice the pagpag eating habit from continuing this
practice. If the governments has more improvements on their
practices, better implementations and stricter implementations,
along with finding alternatives for eating pagpag, this practice
may lessen and eventually stop in our country. If departments like
the Department of health worked hand in hand with the
Department of Social Welfare and Development and National Solid
Waste Management Commission, hunger and improper waste
management, which are the biggest proprietors of pagpag
consumption, can be lessened and stopped, which can cause a
chain reaction and stop pagpag consumption. Dealing with hunger
is one of the biggest steps because its absence will help the poor
not have to take such drastic measures to eat. Waste management,
on the other hand, will make pagpag inaccessible to the people who
see it as an option to put food in their stomachs.

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5. When there is an abundance of resources for the minority, the
majority will experience not having enough of it to go around.
Since the rich capitalize on their abundance of resources, in this
case food, the poor and people who have difficulty getting this
resource experience scarcity and are, in turn, left to do drastic
things in order to survive. Since the rich are the ones who have an
excess of food, the poor are left with what the rich have not used or
are left to recycle what the rich have already used. They are
pushed to find ways to live while the rich, who have an excess of
this valuable resource, do not need to go through much trouble in
order to survive and to sate their hunger.
6. Pagpag is an unhealthy practice, it puts its practitioners at risk
because of the unsanitary conditions and environment in which
they find their food. There are multiple laws and practices that
were created and implemented in order to combat this practice but
because of the need to eat and survive, the poor find ways in order
to continue this said practice. They disregard the health
repercussions because pagpag is their only means of curing their
hunger. They no longer care if they contract any diseases just to be
able to eat for their day to day lives. Majority of those under the
poverty line, regardless of gender and age, practice pagpag because
they have no other means of obtaining food. Buying food is too
costly, waiting for donations or feeding programs take too much
time and their environment doesn’t offer much choices for them to
obtain meals. This is their last result to avoid starvation and it is a
sad reality because many people contribute to it without them
even knowing. The waste and excess of food for the people above
the poverty line has resulted in a scarcity of proper food for the
poor. They have resulted in waiting for our leftovers and
scavenging through our trash in order to feed themselves. This can
be prevented though if the government and the masses give more
attention to this issue and help combat it. The biggest contributors
to the pagpag practice are huger, waste disposal and poverty. Yes,
these are hard issues to combat but if they are solved or at least,
taken steps to lessen, then people can abandon this practice. All
sources are in citations.

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III. Citations
A. Diamante (2015) FOOD INSECURITY: THE EXPERIENCES
OF HUNGER AMONG THE HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN
MANILA A SLUM. University of Santo Tomas
B. Chua (2018) The Perceived Impacts Of Alternative Food
Source* (“Pagpag”) On Selected Families Of An
Urban Poor Community In The Philippines
C. Food and Research Center (2017) The Impact of Poverty, Food
Insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-Being
D. Galarpe (2017) Review on the Impacts of Waste Disposal Sites
in the Philippines. University of the Philippines
E. Mapa (2010) Hunger Incidence in the Philippines: Facts,
Determinants and Challenges. University of the Philippines
F. Save the Children Philippines (2016) Cost of Hunger :
Philippines