Basic HTML Version
January,
1970
pinos want to learn and they do learn
well. About
fifty
percent spcak English
and most business and govcrnment
functions are cooductcd in Eoglish.
Over 70 perceot are literate and familics
will sacrifice to get theír children
through school. All too often, however,
after they have gained an education
(many on govcrnment scholarshíps),
they emígrate to nations paying higher
wages - never to rcturn. Wages are so
low that most Filipinos are sympa–
thetic when doctors, nurscs, teachers,
engineers, lawycrs and othcr highly
trained and skilled pcrsonnel move to
the United $tates, Canada, Europe and
other countries in largc numbecs. This
"brain-drain" is close to disastrous for a
young nation that needs more of the
educated dass. Without this priceless,
stable Jeadership, the nation is suffering.
Crime is rampant and youth are Aoun–
dering.
Population and Labor
There is no shortage of Jaborers, how–
ever. The Philippincs has onc of thc
bighest birth rates in thc world -
3.
5
percent per year. In comparison to the
present
37
million, the population will
be
53.4
million by
1980
íf the rate con–
tinues! This fantastíc growth rcsults in
more mouths to fecd but also in a
highly competitive i:lbor force, wherc a
man will work for almost any wage just
to have some income in order to feed
his family. Birth control cou ld
be
one
answer, but this is contrary to their reli–
gion (over
90
pcrccnt are Roman Catb–
olic). Wages remain low and
thc
econ–
omy
suffers. In most arcas the average
family income is lcss th,¡n
$600
a year!
The Agricultura! Squeeze
Another rcsult of population growth
is thc unhmely cutting of forests, result–
ing
in
widesprcad soil erosion and
drastically reduced farm yields.
Bureau of Soils Director Anastacio
Simon pointed out that more than two
thirds of thc nation's farmland is
eroded in various stages. "Land areas in
at least 25 provinces have been eroded
as much as 50 pcrccnt - an act which
explains the occurrence of floods that
annually create losses in lifc and proper–
ties"
(Ma11ila Chronicle,
August
19,
1969).
Other factors
- locusts, rodcnts,
Ambossodor
Col/ege
Photo
Efforts are being made to clean up the many impoverished slum oreas in
and around Manila, but progress is painfully slow.
drought, tropical typhoons, the high
cost of mechanical ec¡uipment and the
oppressive feudal tenant farming system
- contribute to make agriculture just
another example of dependence on
others, not the yearned-for indepen–
dcnce. Despite the high potential of her
rich soil, the Philippines must
impo1·t
over
$100
million in food each ycar.
Who Will Help ?
We could discuss dozens of other
problems - tbe governmental graft and
corruption, the alarming rise in ccime,
the lack of health and hygiene, the sen–
sationalism in the press, rats and ro–
dents, disease epidemics, debt, bureau–
cracy. But the big question is "Who
will help?"
Are the Filipinos destined to flounder
their way to a crime-ridden anarchy or
despotic dictatorship? Are they destined
to be wooed by a Communist power
which would commandeer its economy,
then its people? Or will the Philippines
continue much as it does today, threat–
ened by sorne outsiders, economically
"milked" by others, yet " indepcndent"?
The answer appears to be found with
one of three potential "Big Brothers"
- The United States, Japan, or the
Communist Bloc.
The United States?
Filipinos have in the past looked to
the U. S. for leadership, but analyze that
leader today - seemingly afraid of any
fourth- or fifth-rate nation that cares to
walk off with its ships, planes or any–
thing else they like. A nation that devel–
oped the greatest fighting force in his–
tory and the A Bomb to destroy the ag–
gressors of W orld War U, now unable
- or unwilling - to win the war in
Vietnam. Is this a leader to follow?
Would the U. S. fight for Filipino inde–
pendence again?
The former image that Filipinos had
of Americans was that of a brave big
brother that loved bis little brown
brother of Asia and wasn't afraid to
light for him. Today the American
imagc has become that of a longhaired,
sexless, pot-impregnated effeminate.
Why should it surprise the Yankee
when sorne natioos revolt against Amer–
ican degeneracy and presence in their