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EDITORIAL
Philippines: More pain, no gain
Faced with massive public debt,
abject poverty, a rapidly expanding population and mediocre economic growth,
the Philippines, a once rich and promising nation, has become a social
catastrophe. In a prelude to an upcoming series, Asia Times Online notes some
disturbing facts as to why it's time to bell the cat.
PART 1
The sick man of Asia
Forty years ago the Philippines was considered the most
dynamic economy in the region; today it is the sick man of Asia. The
demographics are alarming: abject poverty, ballooning debt, abysmal
unemployment, and on and on. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's solution is
austerity, though more suffering is the last thing Filipinos need. Perhaps it
would just be better to pray.
PART 2
Goodfellas, with Tagalog subtitles
Greenhills in Manila, where the few Filipino haves live, is a
perfect microcosm of the Philippines: a small group of elites devise rules that
exclude the rest of the country's 84 million, mostly poor, people. That could
also describe Congress, where families are the crux of the political machine,
and they're all rich, courtesy of the state they are meant to serve.
PART 3
Poverty and corruption: he ties that bind
The Philippines
is stuck in a four-decade-long crisis, and the evidence lies at Smoky Mountain,
a 40-year-old mountain of garbage in the capital inhabited by nearly 30,000
people. The cause of such dire poverty? Not corruption, as one might think.
Rich or poor, corruption is everywhere, but throw in the swinging pendulum of
power and that's when things stink.
PART 4
Last one leaving please turn off the lights
Filipino maid Sundays in Hong Kong's
Central district are one of Asia's social anthropology highlights. Part of an
original drive to repay the Philippines' mounting international debt, the maids
are now among the 7.5 million legalized overseas Filipino workers. Former
president Cory Aquino used to call the Hong Kong amahs "national heroes", but
with remittances of US$7.6 billion last year alone, the government now wants a
chunk of this money. -
PART 5
All quiet on the second front
With a 57% approval rating among Filipinos, George W Bush has proved that if he
can't win favor in the US - or most of the world - at least he can win it in
the Philippines. Judging by its economic and security nightmares, however,
there are serious doubts whether the Philippines' "special relationship" with
the US as the second front in the "war on terror" has done any good for the
country.
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![Southeast Asia - Thailand, Myanmar [Burma], Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia , Singapore](/images/f_images/southeasta.gif){kind=small}
