POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Report by:
Jerwin C. Penido
March 3, 2017
A glimpse of Poverty in
CDO
Comment:
The video that you have just seen showed
that there are still a lot of people in
Cagayan De Oro who are suffering from
poverty, that is, material poverty. This is to
show that we still have a lot of things to do
in order to change the situation we have in
our country.

Furthermore, Cagayan De Oro is one of the

developed Class A cities in the Philippines,
yet, we can be certain that amidst well fast
development, the very reality of material
poverty is undeniable.
In light of such big reality of poverty, in one
way or another, we may ask ourselves
these following questions?

1. Is there a chance for us to eradicate

poverty in the Philippines, particularly in
our own place which we live at present
here in Cagayan De Oro?
2. What are the root causes of this poverty
in the Philippines?
3. Can we blame the government about our
situation?
 POVERTY INCIDENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES
as of April 22, 2016 by NAPC
Definition Terms:

POVERTY INCIDENCE ( Subsistence Incidence):

-refers to the proportion of Filipinos whose income is
below the Poverty threshold. ( source taken from Philippine Statistics
Authority)

So, let us look some infographs.

Source: (http://
www.napc.gov.ph/resources/infographics . Accessed:
27 February 2017)
Another Infographics about Poverty in the
Philippines in 2015 by the Philippine
Statistics Authority will be PROVIDED for
you through a hand-out sheet for your
reference.
Comment:
For sure, all of us now are totally aware of
how poverty in the Philippines is affecting
multitudes of Filipino brothers and sisters of
ours. We still have a long way to go in order
eradicate poverty in our midst.
Some Catholic Teachings on
Poverty
Vatican II document Gaudium et spes, no.
63

In the economic and social realms, too,

the dignity and complete vocation of the
human person and the welfare of society as
a whole are to be respected and promoted.
For man is the source, the center, and the
purpose of all economic and social life.
Gaudium et spes no. 1
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties
of the men of this age, especially those who are poor
or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes,
the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.
Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an
echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community
composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by
the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of
their Father and they have welcomed the news of
salvation which is meant for every man. That is why
this community realizes that it is truly linked with
mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.
Populorum Progressio-Development of
the peoples (1967), paragraph 23
If someone who has the riches of this world sees
his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how
does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17) It
is well known how strong were the words used by
the Fathers of the Church to describe the proper
attitude of persons who possess anything towards
persons in need. To quote Saint Ambrose: You are
not making a gift of your possessions to the poor
person. You are handing over to him what is his. For
what has been given in common for the use of all,
you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given
to all, and not only to the rich.
PRAXIS:
Again, what can we in order to lessen poverty in our
society today?
What concrete ways we can think of in order to
address poverty in the present moment?
As students, we could not possible get out of here in
the seminary and give money to all the poor people we
could find in the streets of Cagayan De Oro. Yet, there
are small ways we could do in order to do our share in
lessening some great burdens of our brothers and
sisters. Such concrete example would be: to volunteer
to some NGOs or Church organizations that are taking
initiatives to help poor people in many parts of nation
or even in our own locality where we live.
The following video is an interview to one
of the workers of Dutertes Kitchen in CDO,
which after this school year, I will volunteer
my extra time to serve our poor people
living here in Cagayan De Oro City.
So, let us take a look..
Interview at Dutertes Kitchen CDO
A famous saying from St. Mother Teresa
is good to reflect:

There are things which I

can do, which you cannot
do. There are things which
you can do, which I cannot
do. But if we put it
together, we will do
something beautiful for
Lastly, I was inspired to compose a song in
relation to our course in Catholic Social
Teachings for this second semester. It is a
Filipino(Tagalog) song. This is my way of
remembering the lessons I learned from our
professor Fr. Rey and course, the great
insights that I learned from the course in
general.

Thank you!!!
CST SONG COMPOSITION
Kaibigan Ko, Kapwa Ko
Lyrics Composed by:
Jerwin C. Penido
Ano na nga ba ang nangyayari sa mundo
And daming suliranin na dapat atupagin ng tao
Meron pa bang pag-asa sa buhay na ito
Sana naman maging okay na tayo lahat

Nakikita ko ang kahirapan,

Pang-aapi sa mga tao at kalikasan ay laganap sa
mundo
Bakit kailangang mangyari ang lahat ng ito.
Sana naman , ayusin na natin ito

Koro

Kaibigan ko, kapwa ko.

Tayo ng magka isa, upang maging maayos
ang lahat sa buhay natin.
Kung tayoy magkaka-isa, malulutas natin ang
lahat.
 Sana ang mga tao ay mamulat na sa buhay
Pagbibigay pagmamahal sa lahat ng aspeto sa
buhay
Ang siyang susi sa buhay na masaya at
marangal.

Hindi lang dapat sarili natin ang unahin

Isipin din natin ang lahat ng nasa paligid natin
Nakakapag-bigay ba tayo ng kasiyahan sa
lahat
Dito sa mundong ginagalawan natin

(Balik sa Koro)

Koda:

Kaibigan kokapawa kotayo na ay

magbago.