Economics is a confounding subject matter to most people in our country. They don’t care about how it runs and they are uninformed on how important it is in our lives, but no matter what happens, economics occurs to us every day as we do our daily tasks and make a living. When we simply use the water or cook our food, or when we purchase from different stores online, or even when we go to the grocery store – these acts along with the decisions we make already stimulates our economy.
It was around 1960s when the Philippines was one of the most developed countries in terms of economics in East Asian countries. This is undeniably true because of our country’s resources. But as years go by, our economic standing slowly falls down. Philippines has an open economy which means we have four different sectors: households, business firms, the foreign countries, and the government. Being open into trading with larger scope is an advantage for our economy, but our country still faces economic crisis and these are some of the problems that occur.
Scarcity
Scarcity is a heavy economic problem in the Philippines that roots from different causes. Conceptually, scarcity is a naturally occurring limitation. The trend of the demand and supply induces scarcity. Knowing that this country has a very high population, demand increases and it mismatches with the available supply.
On the other hand, the major trigger point of this problem is the rural to urban migration. Because of this, there is too much demand from consumers in a certain area. An example would be the scarcity of water in some parts of Metro Manila. Therefore, the government and the people should come hand in hand for a solution. Since most of the people in the urban area went there for income, rural government should come up for development plans that will provide income for the citizens which is as good as what is offered at urban areas. This is also a good call to open more opportunities in the provinces. Philippines is rich in resources, but right now, our resources especially environmental resources are being compromised. Lessening rural to urban migration may balance the resources and meet the demands.
Given that people have unlimited needs and wants and the resources to supply these are limited - scarcity takes place. People often get satisfied with what they have, therefore, their decisions and choices in wanting more than what they need is affecting our economy. To address this problem, I think people must attend seminars on how to efficiently use their money and other resources. It should be taught at school on how to set the right properties in life and on how do we invest the resources that we have. Most often, we over-want a thing that we don’t actually need, hence, controlling our desires could help in alleviating scarcity.
All people who are concerned shall be able to maintain a balanced supply chain. We should monitor how supplies move from time to time and make sure that our market system is up to date and can be reliably used in answering the issues brought by scarcity.
Also, in emergency situations wherein people go panic buying, the government should state a quota on how much a household can buy. If this happens, scarcity will intensify and could bring the whole economy down. Knowing that our country is rich in several resources, the greatest problem occurs when these resources are not allocated in the right way. To help solve scarcity, our country should also start relying on fact and science based researches on how to make use of our resources more efficiently and effectively in the long run, just as how Japan does it. I believe that Filipinos are imaginative and prolific in this matter, thereupon, we could come up with innovative plans in handling and lessening scarcity.
Poverty
The poverty rate in the Philippines has been declining in the recent years, but in a country with such great population, the rate is still alarmingly high. It affects economy – pulls it down and creates a negative to the lives of the rest. Poverty is caused by many different things that may seem ‘normal’ in our country already because none of these had been taken care of, or for so long, there hasn’t been an effective and firm solution for this.
Everyone in our economy should partake and meet in order to solve this. The government and the business firms should open more employments to the people. The government shall focus on giving the best quality education there could be. They should support adequate healthcare and provide more opportunities to the people who need the most. There are times that we don’t just need equality, but justice.
We cannot live our lives like there is not one homeless person who is lying on the street, starving, and sick. Simple acts and responsibilities mean a lot too in order to solve this economic problem. One of these would be taking care of our environment, ignoring physical and religious differences, or going into a poor community and educate them that there many ways on how they could elevate their lives like starting a small business. Some people become satisfied with their lives because they are hopeless and maybe if we give them hope, give them something to start with, and guide them through the process, we could help them into success. It is the truth that opportunities are not spread evenly in our country, therefore, we have to force ourselves in making one to the others who have less.
On the other hand, the most basic solution to poverty in the Philippines is the proper allocation of public funds. Corruption and graft by the elected politicians has been evident in the past years. Moreover, if the poverty is uncontrolled, it could mean higher number of crimes that may possibly occur because some people will be forced to do something illegal just for them to survive.
Even if nine out of ten people are successful with the sustained developments in their lives, if there’s one of them who suffers and experiences poverty, it will become meaningless. There might be advancement but there will be no progress. If there’s only a thin wall that separates a wealthy person living in a mansion from a man with nothing but serious hunger and there’s no change that occurs to them, then we are not doing our best in taking our part. Economic problem like this does not only require a long-term solution; short-term actions, when done with many, and done continuously, it could create a greater change. And when we get to put them out of the poverty line, we did not only help the or our society and economy, we’ll also be able to help ourselves.
Lastly, let the children be our hope. We have to give them the best and quality education that we have. They all have their own potential; we need to let them be aware of our surroundings because sooner or later, they will be the ones who will rule this place too. Education is still a vital solution in ending poverty. We weren’t born alone in this world, whatever we have, we should also feel obliged to share our resources. This might be a small thing for some of us, but this could mean a lot to others.
