International Political Economy March 24, 2018

Santos, Kyra Jewel J. Sir Jumel G. Estrañero

AB Foreign Service 302

The Political Economy and Poverty Alleviation in The Philippines

I. Introduction

Poverty alleviation is the first and most important single greatest challenge which
the world faces today. It is a matter that many least developed countries and developing
countries have been handling with for a long time. Poverty is one of the biggest and most
evident problems in the Philippines.
Questions with regards to Poverty had always been raised these days; it might be
due to overpopulation, economical state, and many more influences. But one of the
greatest influence on this is the country’s Political Economy. Why are there still people in
the Philippines who are suffering from Poverty? Is it really inevitable? How can it be
minimized? In what ways, and to what extent?
There are lots of political issues that are occurring these days, and there are a lot
of reasons with regards to why it takes place. After all these years, poverty is still an issue
in the country, and Philippines stays in the lower ranks of the most highly economical
countries in the world. But what is the true reason behind this? Was it the citizen’s fault?
Or was it the leader’s fault?
No one wants to take the blame when it comes to the issues in the political
economy of the Philippines, but people should be making drastic measures when it comes
to improving the economy, not only for them, but for the whole country, and all of the
citizens residing in it. When the economy of the country gets greater, there are lots of
opportunities and chances that arise; these might help lessen poverty, in many ways
possible.
There are lots of ways when it comes to alleviating poverty, and it would most
definitely start at fixing and finding ways on how to make the political economy better.
Also, in making the political economy the best that it can be, there are numerous ways on
how to do so, which is why, people should just find it and start acting before it gets too
late
The motivation of this research paper is to share light upon the political economy
factors that determine the quality of governance for poverty alleviation.

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IIA. Statement of the Problem
1. How is political economy related to poverty?

2. How can poverty be alleviated? In what ways?

3. What are the possible ways on how to solve issues on the political economy?

IIB. Methodology
The type of method that would be used as an approach to further improve this
study is to hand out survey questionnaires to different respondents, with whom would be
subjected to answer questions with regards to the political economy and the uprising
poverty of the country. The information expected with the respondents would be in
quantitative form.
The Research Instrument to be used would be a survey questionnaire, and is
depicted below:
To the Respondents,

Greetings of peace and prosperity! The Bachelor of Science in _______ is

currently doing a study entitled: “The Political Economy and Poverty Alleviation”.
The purpose of this study is to gather pertinent information relevant to our research
problem and utilize the said data as vital reference for our study. In view of this, we
would like to seek for your permission to allow us to conduct a survey to you as part of
our target respondents. Rest assured that all data gathered will be kept in full
confidentiality. Thank you very much. May the Lord bless you!

Researcher: Kyra Jewel Santos

Name (Optional): ______________________ Program/Course: ___________

Age: ____ Gender: __________ Civil Status: _____________ Year Level: _________

General Instructions: Please put a check mark to your desired answer. Please answer
the following questions with full honesty.

Legend: 4 – Strongly Agree 3 – Agree

2 – Disagree 1 – Strongly Disagree

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 Questions 1 2 3 4
1. Do you consider the country’s political economy as a
great influence toward poverty?
2. Do you agree that poverty can be alleviated by means of
a great political economy?
3. Do you believe that leadership with an iron hand would
most probably be the key to alleviating poverty?
4. Do you believe that the political economy can be fixed
through other means necessary, which does not involve
money?
5. Do you consider contributing something to our political
economy, to whatever extent it might take, in order to
alleviate poverty in the country?

________________________ _______________
Respondent’s Signature Date

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III. Review of Related Literature

There were different types of studies that are in relation to the Proponents’ topic.
There were local foreign and local related literature which are involved to the further
development of the study. First are the foreign related literatures; according to the article
online entitled: “Poverty Alleviation in Third World Countries through Tourism
Development: A Comparison Study of Costa Rica and Icaragua” by Nichole C. Hugo and
Gyan P. Nyaupune, tourism can be a tool when it comes to fighting Corruption, through
giving the locals the opportunity to be on the employed state, or participate indirectly in
the sector of tourism. The definitive values had been compared in Costa Rica and
Icaragua in order to define the variables that were efficient when it comes to developing
Tourism in the third world. Questionnaires were used to collect data, and were given to
tourists that were visiting the said areas, and through interviewing locals, owners, and
tourism business managers of the society. The information that were procured were used
to investigate the expenses that affects tourism. The study focused on how Tourism
reduces Poverty in both Poverty in Costa Rica and Icaragua. This had been a great help
to the study, due to the fact that it introduced a new way on how to alleviate the poverty,
through the improvement of the country’s political economy.1
With regards to another foreign study having the title: “Understanding the
relationships between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation: A conceptual
framework”, the interest towards the contribution of ecosystem when it comes to
alleviating poverty had been growing; the study presented a new conceptual framework,
depicting insights from already existing frameworks, mostly in international development.
People have varying abilities when it comes to taking advantage of the ecosystem
services. Different categories of the ecosystem service have been differentiated through
their contribution to wellbeing, provisioning services, and cash being easy to control. The
framework gave clear analyses when it comes to these said differentiations. Significant
conceptual differentiations were also made amongst poverty prevention and reduction;
also between human response options when it comes to adaptation. This was also a big
help to the study, because it broadly explained the relation of ecosystem in alleviating the
poverty, through different means necessary.2
In accordance to the book by David Satterthwaite, Hannah Reid, and Stephen
Bass entitled: “Reducing Poverty and Sustaining the Environment”, which is also a foreign
literature, there had been growing signs that development works by the governmental or
non-governmental organizations, had been jeopardized in terms of environmental quality
and protection. The role that the politics plays when it comes to this is truly significant;
this is what the book is about. It depicted experiences regarding different countries, and
it showed how perception with the context of national and local politics is a key factor

1
Hugo, Nichole C. "Poverty Alleviation in Third World Countries through Tourism Development: A Comparison
Study of Costa Rica and Icaragua." Advancing Tourism Research Globally. August 8, 2016.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttra/2010/Visual/21/.
2
Fisher, Janet A., Genevieve Patenaude, Kalpana Giri, Kristina Lewis, Patrick Meir, Patricia Pinho, Mark D.A Rounsevell, and
Mathew Williams. "Understanding the Relationships between Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation: A Conceptual
Framework." Science Direct. Accessed March 2014. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041613000764.

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when it comes to determining Poverty. This book was a great help to the study due to the
fact that it not only focuses on reducing the poverty but also in sustaining the environment;
this gave the proponent an idea with regards making more out of the alleviation of the
poverty and think of other ways to improve poverty while also improving other sectors that
would also help the inhabitants of the country.3
In relation to the local literature, specifically, a book entitled: “Education, Poverty,
Malnutrition and Famine”, by Lorraine Pe Symaco, which also served as a foreign
literature for the study, it was defined in here that Poverty exists in different ranges among
developing or developed countries. The book depicted a global overview of education
and issues regarding the case study samples of countries in various regions had been
defined. Insights and solutions had been proposed on how education can alleviate
Poverty. Though this book did not focus solely on poverty, it still had been a big help to
the study due to the fact that it discussed several significant factors with regards to solving
and avoiding poverty.4
In proportion to the book that served as a local literature entitled: “Promoting Social
Change and Democracy Through Information Technology”, by Vikas Kumar and Jakob
Svensson, there are so many opportunities when it comes to this millennium, due to the
Internet; but these also come with challenges when it comes to determining fresh
innovations. Online platforms these days are now used for wilder purposes; social
revolution, political influence, and governance at both local and national levels. This is a
type of reference for the latest innovation these days; Internet, Mobile Phones, and other
digital platforms; focusing on political science and social activism. This book showed ways
on how to promote social change, including the political economy, through information
technology. A wise proposal of it had been a great help in the study, for information
technology can also be used in the further improvement of this study.5
According to the case study of Celia M. Reyes and Lani E. Valencia, which served
as a local literature, entitled: “Poverty Reduction Strategy and Poverty Monitoring:
Philippine Case Study”, Philippines is one of the nations who participated in the
Millennium Summit in September 2000, and had committed to achieve 48 targets; one of
which includes the eradication of Poverty. The Philippines had been fighting with
Corruption for decades, striving hard, including targets on human development and
poverty reduction. They have become the basis for social and economic development
plans and programs of national and local governments. Which is why, this had been of
great help to the study, due to the fact that poverty monitoring was emphasized in here,
and poverty reduction strategies were laid out.6

3
Satterthwaite, David, Hannah Reid, and Stephen Bass Routledge. Reducing Poverty and Sustaining the Environment: The
Politics of Local Engagement. 2013.
4
Symaco, Lorraine. Education, Poverty, Malnutrition and Famine.
5
Kumar, Vikas, and Jakob Svensson. Promoting Social Change and Democracy Through Information Technology. IGI
Global, 2015.
6
Reyes, Celia M., and Lani E. Valencia. "Poverty Reduction Strategy and Poverty Monitoring: Philippine Case
Study." http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAME/Resources/Country-
studies/philippines_povmonitoring_casestudy.pdf

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 In accordance to the book that served a foreign literature, named: “When Helping
Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor… and Yourself”, by Steve
Corbett and Brian Fikkert, Poverty is not just pertaining to lack of material resources, and
it does not just get solved through donations and handed-out goods and services. The
book showed examples of Poverty alleviation efforts that were in vain, doing more harm
than good, due to the fact that they have failed to assess the complications of Poverty.
This book had helped the study in defining ways on how to alleviate poverty in safe and
simple ways, without actually offending anyone. This contributed more ideas to the study.7

In relation to the local article entitled: “Agenda of the next president: Poverty
reduction”, by INQUIRER.net (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Poverty is the main problem in
our land. A recent social weather stations survey in 2015 had depicted that one out of two
Filipino families had rated themselves poor. Also, a conducted Pulse Asia survey had
also found out that 38% of the respondents had concluded that Poverty is one of the most
urgent concerns of our country that should be taken care of. Causes of Poverty had also
been laid out in this article. This article had urged the proponent to be able to find more
ways with regards to minimizing poverty, due to the fact that it discussed how bad the
poverty in our country was.8

In proportion to the local article entitled: “Duterte administration and poverty

reduction”, by Bernardo M. Villegas, there is one benefit from a President that came from
Mindanao, and that given this fact, there would be a high possibility that poverty reduction
would be first and foremost be taken care of. This is because poverty incidence in
Mindanao can be as high as 60%. These said percentages are not to be ignored and set
aside, for it is a serious matter, which is why, it had urged the study to also dwell on the
issues regarding the political economy of the country, that also causes poverty, and define
ways on how to alleviate impoverishment as soon as possible.9

7
Corbett, Steve, and Brian Fikkert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and
Yourself. Moody Publishers, 2014.
8
"Agenda of the next President: Poverty Reduction." Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 9, 2016.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/762650/elections-2016-poverty-reduction-agenda-voteph2016
9
Villegas, Bernardo M. "Duterte Administration and Poverty Reduction." June 30, 2016.
http://2016.mb.com.ph/2016/06/30/duterte-administration-and-poverty-reduction/.

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 In line with the local article entitled: “DSWD intensifies program convergence to
address poverty”, from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, through the
rise of the events with regards to Poverty in the first half of 2014, the program of DSWD
called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, had been orchestrated to halt the Poverty
from rising any further. With this being said, this urged the proponent to even work hard
when it comes to finding solutions to alleviate poverty, to be able to help in the most
effective way.10

10
"DSWD Intensifies Program Convergence to Address Poverty." Department of Social Welfare and
Development.http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/03/09/dswd-intensifies-program-convergence-to-address-
poverty/.

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IV. Presentation, Interpretation, and Analysis of the Data (PAID)

Questions 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
1. Do you consider the country’s political economy as
0 0 8 12 20
a great influence toward poverty?
2. Do you agree that poverty can be alleviated by
0 4 5 11 20
means of a great political economy?
3. Do you believe that leadership with an iron hand
2 4 5 9 20
would most probably be the key to alleviating poverty?
4. Do you believe that the political economy can be
fixed through other means necessary, which does not 8 4 5 3 20
involve money?
5. Do you consider contributing something to our
political economy, to whatever extent it might take, in 0 3 5 12 20
order to alleviate poverty in the country?

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Question #1:

Do you consider the country's political economy as a great

influence toward poverty?
00

12

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

There are no respondents who rated 1 and 2 which are strongly disagree and
disagree, correspondingly. But there are 8 respondents who agreed and there are 12
respondents who strongly agreed. Therefore, majority of the respondents considered the
country’s political economy as a great influence toward poverty.
Mean:
3 score rating * 8 respondents = 24
4 score rating * 12 respondents = 48
24 + 48 = 72 total score / 20 total respondents = 3.6
3.6 or 4 = Strongly Agree
Therefore, majority of the respondents strongly agree with question #1.

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Question #2:

Do you agree that poverty can be alleviated by means of a

great political economy?
0

11
5

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

There are no respondents who rated 1 or strongly disagree; there are 4 who
disagreed; 5 who agreed; and 11 who strongly agreed. Therefore, majority of the
respondents agreed that poverty can be alleviated by means of a great political economy.
Mean:
2 score rating * 4 respondents = 8
3 score rating * 5 respondents = 15
4 score rating * 11 respondents = 44
44 + 15 + 8 = 67 total score / 20 total respondents = 3.35
3.35 = Agree
Therefore, majority of the respondents agree with question #2.

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Question #3:

Do you believe that leadership with an iron hand would

most probably be the key to alleviating poverty?

4
9

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

There are 2 respondents who strongly disagreed regarding this matter; 4

respondents who disagreed; 5 respondents who agreed; 9 respondents who strongly
agreed. Therefore, there are some who believed that leadership with an iron hand is not
totally the key to alleviating poverty, but majority had believed that this is an effective way
on how to solve poverty.
Mean:
1 score rating * 2 respondents = 2
2 score rating * 4 respondents = 8
3 score rating * 5 respondents = 15
4 score rating * 9 respondents = 36
36 + 15 + 8 + 2 = 61 total score / 20 total respondents = 3.05
3.05 = Agree
Therefore, majority of the respondents agree with question #3.

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Question #4:

Do you believe that the political economy can be fixed

through other means necessary, which does not involve
money?

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

There are 8 respondents who strongly disagreed; 4 respondents who disagreed;

5 respondents who agreed; and 3 respondents who strongly disagreed. Therefore, only
some believed that political economy can be fixed through other means necessary that
does not involve money. However, majority believed that the political economy cannot be
fixed without the money involved.
Mean:
1 score rating * 8 respondents = 8
2 score rating * 4 respondents = 8
3 score rating * 5 respondents = 15
4 score rating * 3 respondents = 12
12 + 15 + 8 + 8 = 43 total score / 20 total respondents = 2.15
2.15 = Disagree
Therefore, majority of the respondents disagree with question #4.

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Question #5:

Do you consider contributing something to our political

economy, to whatever extent it might take, in order to
alleviate poverty in the country?
0

5
12

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

There are no respondents who strongly disagreed with regards to this matter; there
are 3 respondents who disagreed; there are 5 respondents who agreed; and there are 12
respondents who strongly disagreed. Therefore, majority of the respondents believe that
contributing something to our political economy, to whatever extent it might take, in order
to alleviate poverty in our country.
Mean:
2 score rating * 3 respondents = 6
3 score rating * 5 respondents = 15
4 score rating * 12 respondents = 48
48 + 15 + 6 = 69 total score / 20 total respondents = 3.45
3.45 = Agree
Therefore, majority of the respondents agree with question #5.

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V. Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendation

There are lots of ways on how to improve the political economy of the country, and
some of these are through the use of Information Technology, or through Tourism.
Through improving the political economy of the country, through any possible means,
alleviation of poverty would definitely be possible. With the survey questionnaire that was
given to respondents for them to answer, various data had been garnered by the
Proponent. With all of these data, it was proven that political economy was somehow
related to the alleviation of the poverty in the Philippines.
The Proponent therefore conclude that the most influential way of alleviating the
poverty in the Philippines is to be able to solve issues when it comes to the country’s
political economy. By solving this issue, being able to minimize the poverty would be
easier. There are tons of political economy issues that arise these days, and it would first
and foremost start with the citizen of the country, up to its leader. Through solving the
political economies, poverty would be focused upon, and be lessened. Also, with regards
to the survey questionnaires, an iron hand is not thoroughly believed to be a solution
when it comes to solving the country’s poverty; also, it is not believed that it can be solved
without involving money.
The Proponent recommends different types of seminar to be held that are
pertaining to the political economy and poverty of our country. Through this, people will
be more aware when it comes to the crises that our country is facing right now. Second,
Philippines is a democratic country, which is why, the Proponent recommend that they
vote wisely when it comes to elections, for us to have a great leader, that would not
increase our issues when it comes to political economy, but instead, lessen it, or much
better, eradicate it.

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IV. References
1. Agenda of the next president: Poverty reduction. (2016, February 9). Philippine
Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/762650/elections-2016-
poverty-reduction-agenda-voteph2016
2. Corbett, S., & Fikkert, B. (2014). When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty
Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. Moody. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=BXFtSN1u-r8C&dq=poverty alleviation
strategies&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
3. DSWD intensifies program convergence to address poverty. (n.d.). Department of
Social Welfare and Development. Retrieved from
http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/03/09/dswd-intensifies-program-
convergence-to-address-poverty/
4. Fisher, J. A., Patenaude, G., Giri, K., Lewis, K., Meir, P., Pinho, P., . . . Williams,
M. (n.d.). Understanding the relationships between ecosystem services and
poverty alleviation: A conceptual framework. Retrieved March, 2014, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041613000764
5. Hugo, N. C., & Nyaupane, G. P. (2016, August 8). Poverty Alleviation in Third
World Countries through Tourism Development: A Comparison Study of Costa
Rica and icaragua. Retrieved from
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttra/2010/Visual/21/
6. Kumar, V., & Svensson, J. (2015). Promoting Social Change and Democracy
Through Information Technology. IGI Global. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=jkdLCgAAQBAJ&dq=poverty alleviation in
the philippines&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
7. Reyes, C. M., & Valencia, L. E. (n.d.). Poverty Reduction Strategy and Poverty
Monitoring: Philippine Case Study. Retrieved from
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAME/Resources/Country-
studies/philippines_povmonitoring_casestudy.pdf
8. Satterthwaite, D., Reid, H., & Routledge, S. (2013). Books on Google Play
Reducing Poverty and Sustaining the Environment: The Politics of Local
Engagement. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Z-
NsrVwVcMwC&dq=government policy poverty&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
9. Symaco, L. (2014). Education, Poverty, Malnutrition and Famine. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.ph/books?hl=en&lr=&id=eRpnAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=
PP1&dq=poverty alleviation in
philippines&ots=HxHe6Fwoyp&sig=ExiDGH3vVxMzqKosiagLq6cE91U&redir_es
c=y#v=onepage&q=poverty alleviation in Philippines=false.
10. Villegas, B. M. (n.d.). Duterte administration and poverty reduction. Philippine
News. Retrieved from http://2016.mb.com.ph/2016/06/30/duterte-administration-
and-poverty-reduction/

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