Poverty in the Philippines

Poverty in the Philippines can be described in many ways. There are numerous stories that I have observed, researched, and heard about that paint a clear picture on how “poor” people in our country live their lives. I think that I should first mention my own perspective of what poverty is and who the poor people are in our country. I am confident that I can give at least a brief and general description of poverty because I come from Cubao, a place packed by multiple informal settlers and street dwellers. Cubao is known to be a a near second-placer to the busy and crowded setting in Manila. Some would even advise you t be careful of snatchers when you pass by Cubao area. Being able to grow up in that kind of setting and environment, I have been exposed to a number of kinds of “poverty.” I have childhood friends who, according to my peers today, are the poor people in society. My friend technically lives at the computer shop located at the corner of our street. I used to always find him sleeping on the sofa of the computer shop when my other friends and I would go there to play. They have a place near our house but it is occupied by at least 5 families and the lot they occupy is only about as big as 2 or 3 bellarmine classrooms. My friend barely goes home because he usually goes with people who do drugs and play in the computer shop the whole day. As far as I know, that’s his daily routine. However, sometimes I would bump into him in the morning selling newspapers which I assumed was his contribution to his family’s needs. Another picture I can paint of poverty is a family with more or less 6 children (ranging from 4 to 10 yrs old) living in front of our apartment in their “kariton” with only worn out umbrellas to serve as their roof. I would often catch them sleeping all lined-up on the sidewalk floor with big rats and cockroaches crawling around them. That is how I learned what poverty is and who the poor are. According to ruralpoverty.org, the poorest of