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Youth are poverty’s major casualty — Anak ng Bayan

Hungry, uneducated, unemployed

BAGUIO CITY (Oct. 13) — Anak ng Bayan (AnB) Youth Party, together with various youth and student organizations today stormed Malacanang to condemn the Arroyo regime’s failure to solve widespread poverty, unemployment, and hunger which, according to them, eat up millions of Filipino youth and their families.

In a statement, AnB Vice President Raymond Palatino chided Arroyo’s “intensified food voucher system,” saying such artificial measure only highlights the government’s hypocrisy and ineffectiveness to address the prevalent poverty in the country.

Palatino decried government’s plan to give P1,200 worth of food coupons to poor families per month, which the administration believes will give at least a third of the minimum nutrition intake for a family of six. “It’s just P40 per day. Such amount cannot possibly sustain a family of six for a day, given the current high cost of basic commodities even in public markets”, he said.

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) records reveal that last June, prices of rice (1.7 %), corn (10.3 %), meat (15.9 %) and fish (6.7 %) were higher compared to its prices in the same month last year. Meanwhile, government statistics show that it takes at least P594 for a family of six living in Metro Manila to survive for a day.

“This new development shows how worse the situation really is, that the government already has to ration food because a growing number of Filipinos cannot even afford to buy a decent meal. It is ironic indeed for a predominantly agricultural country with so many natural resources,” Palatino said, adding that the primary victims of widespread poverty in the country are the youth.

Dejected youth

Estimates of about 1.7 million students in school year 2003-2004 were forced to drop out of school because of the rising cost of education. These students were also compelled to work to help their families augment their income. The United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has documented over four million child laborers in 2003. About 13 % of Filipino households have their children work at an early age (five to 17 years old), based on government’s census data in 2002.

Government statistics report that many are still unemployed, with the unemployment rate pegged at 13.7 % in April 2004. Records of the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) reveal that every year, only 10,000 jobs on the average await more than 300,000 new college graduates.

“Only 25 % of the Filipino youth, aged 15 and above are employed. Furthermore, out of these available jobs, only 7.2 % require higher education. Ironically, elementary graduates (11.1 million) and high school graduates (10.9 million) make up most of the employed sector. Unfortunately, most of them are also bound to lose their job because of lack of job security, contractualization and closure of enterprises,” Palatino enunciated. Estimates of 196 workers lose their jobs daily.

Hunger and academic performance

Meanwhile, Palatino also blamed the poor performance of students, especially in elementary and high school to widespread hunger among school children brought about by poverty. “The logic is simple – an empty stomach yields an empty brain. Hunger reduces a student’s capacity to absorb information and his or her attention span. How then will we expect our students to perform well, or to at least pass, if they are studying in an environment with poor facilities and outdated, sometimes flawed textbooks, not to mention that they have not eaten their breakfast yet?” he explained.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) revealed that three out of 10 Filipino children are malnourished due to insufficient nutrition intake and chronic hunger. More than half of the 1.4 million new elementary graduates, on the other hand, flunked the High School Readiness Test (HSRT) last May. The results were just as bad with the second HSRT in August. # via NORDIS

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