What is the problem or issue?

The issue is about DepEd hiring of an additional teachers needed in

basic education particularly Science and Math teachers. It is due to the
implementation of the newest K-12 curriculum here in our country that
resulted for an increase in demand for teachers to teach for the basic
education especially in Junior and Senior High School.

How serious is the problem or issue?

This is an important recent issue here in our country because it is in

connection to the newly implemented program which is the K-12
curriculum. The department was facing a challenge with hiring teachers in
the two fields, the science and math. They are serious on recruiting a huge
army of teachers despite the employment from 2010 up to now. The
Philippines remains far behind, the only Asian country—and one of only
three countries in the world—providing only 10 years of basic education.

What causes the problem or issue?

This issue is due to the newly implemented educational program. The

whole point of the entire K to 12 reforms is to answer the needs of about 30
million young people (those below 24 years of age) who have not finished
Fourth Year High School. Of the out-of-school youth of employable age,
more than six million are unemployed, primarily because they do not have
the skills that employers want.” It’s a good news to the side of those pre-
service teachers and degree holders who are qualified to teach under those
areas.
What are the consequences of the problem or issue?

The consequences of this issue are that there are more newly
graduates or those part time teachers who are qualified will be hired. The
number of unemployed teacher education graduates will decrease and also
it is a good sign of development. Most of the graduates will no longer settle
for applying on jobs such as sales lady, cashiers, and other alternative jobs
which is not in line with their degree program. And also a good sign of a
better classroom management because the population of the students for
every teacher will decrease. The needs of the students will be catered
accordingly and they can a more focused attention from the teacher.
Another one is the number of teachers going abroad will lessen because
there is already an opportunity offered here and a great advantage to add in
our labor force.

What has been done about the problem or issue?

The Department of Education is still ongoing on the campaign to hire

more teachers to fill more than 30,000 teaching positions in the field. The
department proposed a budget of 567.56-billion budgets for 2017.
Secretary Leonor Briones said that DepEd created 36,461 teaching positions
for the senior high program alone, which was rolled out in June. So far, the
DepEd has hired 3,950 teachers displaced from higher education institutions
by the K-12 program, of which 928 availed themselves of the department’s
“green lane” for speedy employment. The DepEd is allotting 15.5 billion to
hire 53,831 teachers next year and about P4.5 billion to purchase more than
8,300 Science and Math equipment packages.
What else are needed to be done about the problem or issue?

The issue stresses that the DepEd is in need of hiring teachers only in
the area of science and math. We hope that other specialization will also
have a position in the field. T he government should allocate a bigger
budget on education and we hope that this will continue for we as a pre-
service teachers is expecting much from the government. And we should
not ignore the serious challenges of shifting to a K-12 program. At the same
time, we should seize upon its very real potential to improve the lives of
everyone. K-12 is obviously a work in progress that will go through many
changes as it is implemented. Top-down planning will invariably be
reshaped and modified by bottom-up concerns and existing practices of
teaching and learning. What remains imperative is that we provide our
youth with all the skills they need, especially education, to prepare them to
live meaningful and productive lives. This means, among other things,
preparing for the constantly changing demands of the workplace. But they
should also be able to question those changes and craft alternatives for a
better world. There are many problems to be fixed in education and we
should pursue these solutions with zeal. To do so means dealing with the
many challenges of K-12 rather than simply putting them on hold.
What is the problem or issue?

The problem is about loan sharks who still even strive with the
presence of microfinance in the country. This problem of loan sharks
charging usurious rates for short-term lending was supposed to have been
solved by now. Microfinance is used to describe the supply of financial
services to low-income employees, which is closer to the retail finance
model prevalent in mainstream banking.

How serious is the problem or issue?

This problem is serious because up to now loan sharks are still

present in the market establishments. They remain the first resort of those
informal sectors or small business owners in times of financial shortage.
Loan sharks are used to be banned by the government here in our country
for they lend money through the “5-6” scheme, where the interest rate is
deemed usurious and this is a big burden in Filipinos. And some Indians
would also force their customers to buy refrigerators and other items even
though they do not have electricity. We are made to suffer on bended knees.

What causes the problem or issue?

The Philippines has a large informal sector comprised of micro-

enterprises. Many of these are severely resource-constrained small vendors
operating in public markets, whose survival in business relies heavily on
access to financing. This usually comes from the informal sector as well in
the form of informal financiers called “5-6.” Two types of 5-6 financiers are
found in Philippine public markets, each with a distinctive lending
mechanism, Filipinos and Indians. The entrepreneurial Filipinos are not
getting the breaks they needed because they no access to banking and
microfinance had the potential to change that according to Coronel the
executive director of the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
What are the consequences of the problem or issue?

The consequences of the problem are that it gave more burdens to

entrepreneurial Filipinos than lifting their situations. The more demand or
access of those informal sectors to the loan sharks means that we could not
stop them from doing “5-6” system. Even with microfinance,
entrepreneurial Filipinos still prefer Indian lenders because they saw it like
the interest was still the same when they borrowed from lending
institutions. So we could still eliminate the taking advantage of those
Indians to us because majority of us depend on them.

What has been done about the problem or issue?

Fifteen years ago, the government brought what was then a little
known scheme called microfinance into the banking mainstream, with no
less than the General Banking Law of 2000 mandating the Bangko Sentral
Ng Pilipinas (BSP) to propagate this lending method. Microfinance was
aimed at ultimately alleviating poverty by encouraging underprivileged
individual’s access to the capital they needed to start their own businesses
or help existing ones. It was meant to provide aspiring entrepreneurs from
the lower socioeconomic strata with collateral-free loans, because most of
them could not cough up the collateral like real estate and other acceptable
assets required by banks for loans. And most importantly, it was supposed
to drive five-six loan sharks out of business by offering significantly lower
interest rates. Currently, President Duterte warned those Indian loan sharks
not to do the 5-6 system for they will be deported back to India. He will
seek a help from the Ambassador …. To stop what they are doing or else
they’ll know the consequence.
What else are needed to be done about the problem or issue?

Borrowing from five-six lenders is tempting because of its favorable

terms. Unfortunately, loan sharks only exist to take advantage of cash-
strapped people who are in desperate need of financial aid.

1. Consult a legal financial expert to know the steps on how you can fight
loan sharks legally.

2. If possible, get a personal loan to settle your loans with a loan shark
since banks offer much better terms than shady lenders.

3. If the loan sharks are already sending people to harass you, file a formal
complaint to the police if there’s already violence involved.

4. Finally, talk to them and tell them that you’ll pay them eventually, and
you must deliver so you can get rid of them once and for all in your life.

Sure, black-market lenders exist to provide quick financial aid to

people who do not have access to legitimate credit institutions. However,
keep in mind that the government does not authorize them, thus making
them and their methods unrestricted. When it comes to financial matters,
always trust legitimate institutions to avoid unwanted financial situations in
the future.
What is the problem or issue?

The problem is about the Government urged to step up efforts to

boost agriculture and manufacturing. The Philippine government must be
more aggressive in boosting the local agriculture and manufacturing sectors
and in ramping up infrastructure spending, as increased focus on these
sectors is the key to sustaining the country’s robust economic growth story.

How serious is the problem or issue?

This is a serious issue because Alongside efforts to attract

investments in these sectors, the government must also continue
addressing critical issues that have hampered the country’s investment
climate and the competitiveness of local firms, particularly that of the
micro, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs). Doing so would likely
attract the much needed foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the country.

What causes the problem or issue?

The government must create an appropriate rural-urban economic

balance. A more appropriate balance between rural and urban economic
opportunities appears to be indispensable to ameliorating both urban and
rural unemployment problems and to slowing the pace of rural-urban
migration. The main thrust of this activity should be in the integrated
development of the rural sector, the spread of rural nonfarm employment
opportunities, improved credit access, better agricultural training, the
reorientation of social investments toward rural areas, improving rural
infrastructure, and addressing shortcomings of rural institutions (including
corruption, discrimination, and stratification), the presence of which has the
effect of raising the cost of delaying out-migration.
What are the consequences of the problem or issue?

Faster improvements in roads, harbors, airports and communication

infrastructure will almost immediately yield benefits to the Philippine
economy. As a result, improving these facilities can contribute to a fast
growing economy where in development is balance in different sectors. As
the government boosts the agriculture sector, we as the consumers will
prioritize to buy local products that would contribute tour national income.
Another one is it will open job opportunities for people who live in rural
areas and they will no longer migrate to the urban area to search for more
high paying jobs.

What has been done about the problem?

The government has done efforts about this problem yet it is

not enough to improve the agriculture sector. The next administration
urged to step up efforts to boost agriculture sector. They proposed
solutions concerning this problem.

What else are needed to be done about the problem?

The government must also continue addressing critical issues that

have hampered the country’s investment climate and the competitiveness of
local firms, particularly that of the micro, small, and medium sized
enterprises (MSMEs). Doing so would likely attract the much needed foreign
direct investment (FDIs) into the country. Bodo Goerlich, president of the
German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. says that
proper infrastructure was one of the key factors that would attract German
investors into doing business in the Philippines. The administration should
also put a stronger focus on the economic development of the provinces, for
a geographically more evenly distributed economic growth and to avoid
further congestion in Metro Manila. Another priority should be the opening
of markets to foreign companies and improving the country’s rating
companies and improving the country’s rating with regards to the ease of
doing business.
According to Goerlich, the next administration must also pave the way for
more foreign investments in the manufacturing industry given its huge
potential. “There is a need to reform the education system. Besides K to 12,
the vocational component should be strengthened to attract foreign
investors in the field of manufacturing. Here, the German dual education
can be taken as a blue print. Separately, John D. Forbes, senior adviser at
the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), cited the
lack of investments in the local agricultural and mining sectors and noted
the need for the government to roll out and complete infrastructure projects
that would provide new and additional access roads, especially skyways,
and railways in the National Capital Region. Metro Manila, he said, run the
risk of becoming uninhabitable as the number of vehicles on the streets had
been rising faster. He also cited the issue of airport congestion, which had
been “throttling tourism growth,” as he stressed the need to shift more
flights to Clark in Pampanga. A new airport terminal there, he added, should
be built in the next two years with a non-stop fast train connector similar to
Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Forbes said the next administration
should continue to support the so-called “Seven Big Winner Sectors”
identified by foreign businessmen under the Arangkada Philippines. These
are agriculture; business process outsourcing; creative industries,
infrastructure; manufacturing and logistics; mining; and tourism including
medical travel and retirement.
What is the problem?

The problem is about the worsening rates of malnutrition among

Filipino children by passing a bill seeking a comprehensive health and
nutrition program that will provide protection and support for mothers and
their children from conception to childhood.

How serious is the problem or issue?

It is a very serious issue because it is a negative sign to the

development of a country. According to the FNRI report, one out of four
(26.2 percent) Filipino children aged zero to two are suffering from chronic
malnutrition, the highest rate in the last 10 years. It means that there is a
high inequality of distribution of goods to the people. The number of
children who are malnourish is increasing and they are prone to diseases
that would lead to death.

What causes the problem?

Poverty is the main reason that causes malnutrition. The report

stated that malnutrition and under-nutrition among pregnant women was
also high at 25 percent in 2013. This means that even before the children
come out from their mother’s womb, they are already malnourished or
undernourished. Chances are, they will also suffer from chronic malnutrition
and stunted growth as they grow up and will face greater risk of getting ill
in the future,” Recto pointed out. Uneven distribution of goods to the people
is one of the reasons, where the poor remains poorer while the rich became
richer. So we need to appropriately allocate the budget for the benefit of all
Filipino people and what we earn from gambling tables should be spend in
bringing to food tables.

What are the consequences of the problem?

The consequences of this problem that most of the children are

malnourished are low productivity and they are deprived of basic goods and
services. The potential those children of becoming a strong labor force of
our country decreases and we can’t stop the worsening effect of poverty.
What has been done about the problem?

Senate Minority Leader Ralph G. Recto yesterday pressed Congress to

act on the worsening malnutrition among Filipino children by passing his bill
seeking a comprehensive health and nutrition program that will provide
protection and support for mothers and their children from conception to
childhood. In filing Senate Bill No. 831, Recto cited grim figures from the
Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science
and Technology (DoST) which show that Filipino children are more
malnourished today compared with earlier generations. Recto said a key
component of the program is providing free meals for malnourished children
which could be funded in part by state gaming revenues.

What else are needed to be done about the problem?

COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM

Recto said the chronic problem of malnutrition and under-nutrition

among Filipino children might only be addressed by establishing a
comprehensive children’s health and nutrition program covering all of the
country’s 42,000 barangays. Recto’s proposal covers three major
components: the First 1000 Days Program, the Supplementary Feeding
Program for Day Care Children, and the School-Based Feeding Program. To
ensure sustainability, Recto proposed that the funds for the implementation
of the program be included in the budgets of the DOH, DSWD and DepEd
under the General Appropriations Act.

Another source of fund is the combined gross government share from the
income of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) which could reach P40 billion
this year.

Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/malnutrition-rates-worsening-

gaming-revenues-eyed-to-fund-feeding-programs/#tXYx7FkfI8QPKoq1.99
What is the issue/ problem?

The issue is about the exemption of 4 M low-income earners – DOF and a

TAX REFORM MEASURE. Adjustments in the income tax brackets to correct
so-called income creeping; reduction in the personal income tax maximum
rate to 25 percent from 32 percent, except for highest income earners; and
shift to a simpler, modified gross system.”

How serious is the problem or issue?

This is a serious issue because The Department of Finance (DOF) said

that they made recommendations for tax reforms as part of its transition
documents for President Rodrigo Duterte.
"As we transition towards a new administration, we pass on the elements of
study for the new leadership to consider taking forward. We hope the
various areas covered by our initial work sparks public discourse on
financing our future," the DOF said in a statement.
"In the past few years, the DOF engaged in a series of studies and
consultations with academic experts as well as multilateral and bilateral
institutions on our commitment to genuine tax reform," it added. The
finance department said its tax reform study is "done in a holistic manner
and ideally at a time when electoral pressures do not threaten our long-
term needs for short-term gains."

How serious is the problem or issue?

It’s a serious issue according to Chua the proposed income tax

system comes in light of the high level of support the Duterte
administration has committed for comprehensive tax reforms – which have
often encountered complications in previous administrations. Chua
explained that the DOF’s proposals would update the country’s two-decade
old income tax system used in determining the taxes imposed on the public,
by raising the figures to amounts reflective of modern economic realities
and inflation rates.
What causes the problem?

Under its tax administrative reforms, DOF said it will make tax
evasion a predicate crime to money laundering, and repeal bank secrecy for
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). "We believe the cornerstone of any
genuine tax reform package is to remove bank secrecy for tax evaders and
make tax evasion a predict crime to money laundering," DOF stressed. The
Finance department also recommended the removal of BIR and Bureau of
Customs (BOC) from salary standardization and civil service protection to
"attract staff competence and discourage corrupt practices."

What are the consequences of the problem or issue?

The Finance department said that lowering individual (wage earners

and self-employed professionals) income tax can make our economy more
competitive in light of ASEAN integration. DOF said that decreasing
corporate income tax within five years is feasible if twinned with the
rationalization of 224 laws that make up our overly generous regime for
fiscal incentives.

What has been done about the problem?

The DOF made the following proposals in its Comprehensive Tax Reform
Program (CTRP):

 Lower individual and corporate income tax from 32 percent to 25

percent
 Exempt 11 million wage earners from income tax
 Fiscal incentives rationalization
 Index excise taxes on gas, diesel, and other oil to inflation
 Expand Value Added Tax (VAT) from 12 to 14 percent and remove
exemptions replacing with direct subsidy
 Tax administration reforms
 First year of implementation:

• With Annual Income less than P250,000 = no income tax

• With Annual Income between P250,000 and P400,000 = 20 percent tax rate on the
excess over P250,000

• With Annual Income between P400,000 and P800,00 = P30,000 + 25 percent on the
excess over P400,00

• With Annual Income between P800,000 and P2,000,000 = P130,000 + 30 percent on the
excess over P800,000

• With Annual Income between P2,000,000 to P5,000,000 = P490,000 + 32 percent on the

excess over P2,000,000

• With Annual Income over P5,000,000 = P1,450,000 + 35 percent on the excess over
P5,000,000

Second year of implementation onwards:

• With Annual Income less than P250,000 = no income tax

• With Annual Income between P250,000 and P400,000 = 15 percent tax rate on the
excess over P250,000

• With Annual Income between P400,000 andP800,00 = P22,500 + 20 percent on the

excess over P400,000

• With Annual Income between P800,000 and P2,000,000 = P102,500 + 25 percent on the
excess over P800,000

• With Annual Income between P2,000,000 to P5,000,000 = P402,500 + 30 percent on the

excess over P2,000,000

• With Annual Income over P5,000,000 = P1,302,500 + 35 percent on the excess over
P5,000,000

What else are needed to be done about the problem?

Aside from the reforms in the income tax rates, Chua said the DOF
would also look into lowering the corporate income tax to 25 percent, and
as well as reducing property taxes and capital income taxes. The proposed
tax policy package would also implement new taxes on sweetened
beverages and higher excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco, as well as new
taxes on fatty foods, jewelry, mining, carbon, gambling, lottery and casinos,
he explained. Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who attended the event,
said he strongly supports the proposed tax reforms, noting that “the last
ambitious tax reform program was undertaken several governments,
several administrations ago.”