When it rains it pours. After record-high poverty and hunger rates, here comes record-breaking adult unemployment rate. The Promised Land is fading fast, or at least, looming more distant than ever before. And unless the government of the day gets its act together and move much faster and bolder, this sad state of affairs is going to get worse before it gets better. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino families who consider themselves poor grew by two million in the last three months, a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed. Read the rest of this entry »

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has urged the Philippines and other countries in Asia to address rising income disparities and social exclusion as the region faces growing uncertainty due to decreasing export demands and devastating impacts of disasters. Read the rest of this entry »

VIEWED HISTORICALLY, the recent performance of the Philippine economy has actually been reassuring: Favorable trends include a declining public debt and fiscal deficit, recurring current account surpluses, low inflation, a healthy banking sector, and recent and forthcoming credit rating upgrades. Throughout the latest global economic shocks, remittances from oversees Filipino workers and revenues from the country’s vibrant business process outsourcing (BPO) services have helped the Philippines maintain a healthy growth rate. Remittances have also been the backbone of the strong, sustained growth of private consumption, domestic trade, and real estate, among others. Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON – The World Bank (WB) has tagged the Philippines as a model in providing a social safety net that cushions the impact of global financial and economic problems. Read the rest of this entry »

IT has been 44 years since the late Nobel Lauriate Gunnar Myrdal finished his monumental 10-year study Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. That tome helped re-arrange the thinking of world leaders about poverty and in particular poverty in Asia. It boosted government policymakers in rich and poor countries alike, and in the United Nations, who were pushing their brands of anti-poverty programs. Read the rest of this entry »

Cash transfers seem to be the way to go for the administration of Noynoy in winning the hearts of Filipinos.

In principle, it works to allow the government to keep close tab of those who are availing of subsidies from the government. The conditional cash transfer (CCT) for the poorest Filipinos, for instance, is bankrolled by a P40-billion fund from the budget. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The government plans to expand a landmark poverty alleviation scheme that provides cash aid to the country’s poorest households to benefit nearly 5 million families, an official said Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

THE GOVERNMENT plans to expand a landmark poverty alleviation scheme that provides cash aid to the country’s poorest households to benefit nearly five million families, a Cabinet official said. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has partnered with five private firms for the implementation of sustainable livelihood programs for the beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program. Read the rest of this entry »