Poverty

Our economy is continuously growing and yet there are still Filipinos who live
in poverty. Poverty has been a common social issue that troubles our nations for
thousands of years, why do we have this? Is it enough to blame the poor people for
their own predicament? Does the government have control over it? Have they
government have pursue policies that actually harm successful development? Such
causes of poverty and inequalities are no doubt real but deeper and more global
causes of poverty are often discussed.
Lucy and Lando Martinez, a married couple, belongs to those people who
earn money and have a way of living below the poverty line. They both grew up
experiencing the difficulties of life and they didnt even finish elementary level.
Through the help of their relatives, they got married and lived on a nipa hut. They
were blessed with four sons. Lucy had no permanent work, and she depends on
what people offer her. She even do reaping in the farm. She earns not exceeding not
P100 a day and sometimes nothing. Her husband works in a family in their
barangay and earns one hundred-fifty pesos a day, making it hard for them to
sustain the needs of their children that is why they cannot afford to send them to
school. I pity their children for they are not properly taken care of by their parents. I
can see them walking along the street without wearing clothes. They are even told
to smoke and to drink liquor by others but sadly their parents also. I pity them but
somehow I am disgusted by their acts. If they have enough money, they dont
manage to save some things, instead they turn them all for as their expenses and
the worst thing is they will still have liabilities incurred. They dont have goals and
dreams to live with. They are already contended of what they have. Is it the
government that were going to blame only or we can also blame those people who
do not exert effort to change somehow the kind of life they have?
It is not then right to depend only to the government for the life we want to
have. It is also our duty and a need to work for our own living.
This family I featured is just an example and just a part of many families that
are experiencing poverty and difficulties of life. They work more than eight hours a
day but then nothing changes.
At present, their family is one of the recipients of the government assistance
called 4 Ps. They already have a bungalow house but then their way of living is still
the same. It is not enough to depend any assistance that the government or any
other people could offer. The change is with us, with our own initiative, we could
make things happen. No one can help us in the best way but our ownselves.
Our actions or the past tell why we have this state of life now but then, our
actions for today would probably affect future we will have.