Ramos, Kiara Lian B.

2013 72043 | BS Community Nutrition

SW 143 IWAC 1
The documentary film Pobreng Pinoy by GMAs Imberstigador, as hosted by Mike
Enriquez, gives the viewers an overview of the real-life situations and experiences dealt by
Filipinos most of which are financially challenged. It covers the major problems faced by
communities in the Filipinos: (1) nutrition and health; (2) employment; (3) housing and (3)
poverty. The reality of the situation that most Filipinos continually strives to overcome has been
rooted to the illness that the government seems to have difficulty in ridding: corruption.
This may be further explained through Saul Alinskys The Purpose of the Rules for
Radicals. Alinsky has mentioned that every corrupt and repressive government the world
around saying to us, Give us money and soldiers or there will be a revolution and the new
leaders will be your enemies. The author stresses on the point that the government continues to
repress the people from allowing them to enjoy their rights fully by misinforming them of the
fear for revolutions. This, itself, is a form of corruption as it strips off the peoples rights to
organize in order to demand from the government real solutions, not the so-called band aid
solutions, to the aforementioned social concerns as seen in Pobreng Pinoy.
As I watch Pobreng Pinoy and read Alinskys The Purpose, I cannot help but to be
overwhelmed with anger. This is pointed towards the government whose role is to provide basic
services to these Filipinos which are affordable and accessible. However, these services seems to
be under delivered therefore the rise of problems on health, nutrition, employment, housing and
continual prevalence of poverty. It is enraging as the country is known to impose the highest tax
rate in Southeast Asia (dela Paz, 2015) and yet little improvement on the countrys poverty index
as the self-rated poverty is worse on Aquinos term as compared with Arroyos term (since
Pobreng Pinoy was released in 2007, Gloria Arroyos term) and food-poverty rate increasing
(Saludo, 2014). Alinsky noted that a certain status quo continues to dominate a society, and this
is not far from the countrys present situation.
To further quote Alinsky, he stated:

My aim here is to suggest how to organize for power: how to get it and to use it. I will
argue that the failure to use power for a more equitable distribution of the means of life for all
people signals the end of the revolution and the start of the counterrevolution.
Revolution has always advanced with an ideological spear just as the status quo has inscribed
its ideology upon its shield. All of life is partisan. There is no dispassionate objectivity. The
revolutionary ideology is not confined to a specific limited formula. It is a series of general
principles, rooted in Lincoln's May 19, 1856, statement: "Be not deceived: Revolutions do not go
backward."
With the statement written above, Alinsky emphasizes the need of an ideology in order to
better eradicate the issues on reoccurring poverty in the society. Organizers who wish to attain
this must possess basic truth. I agree with Alinsky since this basic truth allows aspiring
organizers to realize first the true situation of a community in order to better understand its
needs.
As said, Alinsky made use of a Marxist as an example of an organizer which sought out
basic truth. He said that Marxists starts his or her prime truth with the notion that the proletariat
are exploited by the capitalists. Alinsky further proceeds to logically discuss that the revolution
that Marxists wishes to attain is the revolution of ending capitalism and instead reorganize a
society of new social order: the removal of the status quo and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Why do I believe in such? This is because a society that is led by the proletariat may
assume equity since proletariats are composed of a class of workers and the petty- bourgeoisie.
People in this class are among the frequently abused by the status quo, alongside the farmers. It
is just fitting that they be made the leaders of communities as they are the ones which firsthandedly experience the unjust treatment and repression made by the 1% - by those who sets the
status quo.
These people are passionate about fighting their rights in which the government tries to
rob. It is saddening that these people had strived hard to survive and yet they get nothing in
return. The accusation that they only complain and would always put the blame on the
government is entirely wrong this is due to the fact that people of this class are those frequently

stripped off of their benefits and this gives them every reason to assert their rights. Given this,
they exactly know their own needs and what is desired in an ideal community.

Sources:
dela Paz, C. (2015). Why PH has the 2nd highest tax in South East Asia. [News Article]. Retrieved
on

31

January

2016.

Retrieved

from

http://www.rappler.com/business/211-

governance/111918-angara-bill-tax-rates-inflation
Saludo, R. (2014). Aquinos Real Score: The poor are not better off. [News Article]. Retrieved on
31 January 2016. Retrieved from http://www.manilatimes.net/aquinos-real-score-poorbetter/120681/