How can we NOT be poor?
1) Filipinos are a happy-go-lucky race and tend to spend more than we should.
The joke was, that if a Filipino had php100, he would spend php 125. He got the php 25 from borrowing money. How can we not be poor?
No wonder large malls are profitable here. We cannot help but shop!
2) Filipinos do not know how to be financially responsible.
Saving is a challenge. Most of my staff do not even own a bank account because they do not have money to keep a minimum balance. If they have money in the bank, they spend it immediately by paying bills, loans, and their daily requirements. How can we not be poor?
3) Many Filipinos do not work.
There's always one breadwinner in every family, and everyone financially depends on that person. It's very common for a mother will work and support her unemployed useless husband, her younger kids' education, and her older kids' family. I call them beasts of burden. No wonder carabaos are our national animal. How can we not be poor?
4) Many Filipinos are uneducated. Parents here care very little about their kids' education. It's simply not a priority.
Most do not even finish high school due to "financial difficulties" even though public school is free. If they are uneducated, how can they get a good job? How can we not be poor?
The problem is too many kids. And while school is free, they still need money for school projects. If you earn less than php250 a day and have 7 kids, there is none left for school projects.
So the kids who are smarter in the family continue. The rest stop to make way for the smarter kids. Then all the members pin their hope on the smarter child. Because there's really not enough money to go around to support all 7 kids to school. Prioritize or not, financial difficulties force them to stop schooling.
5) Many Filipinos have babies early.
With so many mouths to feed, how can we not be poor?
6) Filipinos who can find jobs do not really know how to keep these jobs.
Absence without Leave (AWOL) is extremely common. People leave without giving notice due to the silliest of reasons: no money to commute to work, personal issues, flood in the neighborhood, or simply prefer to stop working. There is no fear of being blacklisted. how can we not be poor?
7) Filipinos who keep their jobs find themselves victims to their relatives who keep on asking for money.
This is very common with overseas foreign workers. Even after saving their lives in a foreign country, the OFWs still have to support all their families back home. Balikbayan boxes are expensive to fill and send. How can we not be poor?
8) The government is very corrupt.
Politicians steal from their subordinates. That's why, nothing here gets done.
Contractors get their projects through bribery and corruption. The quality of work is sloppish and it's obvious that the funds allocated were not fully used on the project. Contractors are careful on not to do a great job so another project is given to fix the potholes. It's an awful cycle. How can we not be poor?
9) Filipinos love to complain but feel it's not their problem to make a change.
There's a story of the slum dwellers who complain about neighbors throwing their garbage in their area. However, when asked on where they throw their garbage, they admitted they throw it there too!
We have no care for our environment. We feel it's not our problem to clean it up. And yet we complain about other people who also screw our country up. How can we not be poor?
10) Despite knowing the problems, Filipinos do not care too much to incite change. In Filipino, we say bahala na.
We are so used to the status quo, that we feel this quality of life is normal. For us, it's que sera sera. What will be, will be.
With this attitude, how can we not be poor?
There are tons of reasons why we are poor. Our government is corrupt. Our infrastructure is poor. Our people are lazy. And our kids will inherit our problems. It's the culture, and it's the way our country is run.
Filipinos will be poor for a long time. The problem is too ingrained in society for the entire country to lift itself up. There is no good strong leader to lead us.
That said, there are a lot of Filipinos who managed to break this cycle. Many Filipinos are well respected and admired here and overseas. But they still remain a minority. Most of the Filipino will still be poor. That's just the way it is.
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