- Corruption in the government. The people are charged with taxes but we end up having inefficient implementation of road and traffic rules, lack of a flood control system, and "road constructions" (They destroy some roads then immediately "fix" it, as a tactic for kickback). Even if, let's say, we have a good president, it would still be difficult for him to implement good governance practices nationwide because the rest of the politicians would not support something that has nothing in it for them. This problem is passed from generation to generation, more so considering the fact that the strongest politicians form dynasties. The problems in the government, collectively, is the primary reason for the rest of the problems.
- Poverty. Decades ago, the Philippines used to be the second richest country in Asia, next to Japan (That is why the Asian Development Bank was established in Metro Manila). However, because of the former president Ferdinand Marcos' corruption, we are now a poor country with a lot of economic hindrances to match the progress of the neighboring countries (e.g., Singapore). It is also sad to see that the rich and the poor exist side by side (For example, when I was studying at De La Salle University, I can see the neighboring slums from the 4th floor; when I worked at IBM in Eastwood, the poor residential areas are just a stone's throw away; Makati City also has this problem)
- Inefficiencies in processes, particularly when government is involved (e.g., renewing your passport). Because of this, bribery is a common way of experiencing the shortcut and avoiding the hassle of falling in line the entire day.
- Education system. While I believe that the "Big Four" universities (i.e., University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University-Manila, University of Santo Tomas) have world-class academic standards, I also believe that there is still a big gap between these and the other schools (particularly the public schools). It is good that the K-12 program has been implemented and the Spanish language (a "nice to have" addition to English) was considered to be eventually re-introduced in the curriculum, but it might be difficult to implement them well considering the fact that we still have to solve the existing problems: getting competent teachers (Many intelligent people are interested at going to the professional world than the academe, due to salary), providing more classrooms for the growing population, and to maintain/uphold fluency in English.
- Confusing cultural identity as a nation. Nowadays, it is more difficult to define the stereotypical "Filipino", considering that our culture has been a combination of asian and western cultures. As you go up the social ladder, more western values are prioritized even if they may conflict with the traditional "asian" values. This can cause significant cultural conflicts between the rich and the poor.
- Brain drain and lack of local opportunities to promising graduates. For decades, the Philippines has always had large populations of migrant workers abroad. From a purely economic perspective, working elsewhere will always be more financially rewarding. In fact, many doctors go back to school to study BS Nursing, hoping to work abroad in a lower level. In addition, with the advent of the call centers that can pay higher than some local managerial positions, many college graduates (even the board passers in nursing, accountancy, and engineering) choose to take a dead-end path. Other business processes are outsourced here, particularly software, but they may not be as promising as the ones in Silicon Valley (e.g., software enhancements/maintenance instead of building a new and exciting product from scratch).
- Colonial mentality. Case in point: having white skin and pointed nose are considered beautiful, despite the fact that Filipinos are darker and have smaller/flatter noses.
Here are the sample of pictures that the problem of the Philippines are taking now.
The waste and trash found the the Philippines:
Southern Province in the Philippines.
The Street Child in the Philippines.
According to the "A Better Life" foundation, there are three different categories of street children:
- Children on the streets make up approximately 75% of the street children in the Philippines. They work on the streets but do not live there. They generally have a home to return to after working, and some even continue to attend school while working long hours on the streets.
- Children of the street make their homes on the street. They make up 25%-30% of the street children in the Philippines. They often create a sort of family with their fellow street children. Some of them still have family ties, but do not visit them and some even see these ties as bad.
- Completely abandoned children have no family ties and are entirely on their own for physical and psychological survival. They make up approximately 5%-10% of the street children in the Philippines.
Defining Filipino street children
According to the Stairway foundation there are three different categories of street
children: children on the streets, children of the streets and completely
abandoned children.
"Children on the streets" make up approximately 75% of the street children in the
Philippines. These children work on the streets but do not live there, having a
home to return to after working. Some of them even continue to attend school
while working long hours on the streets.
In contrast, "Children of the street" on the other hand make their homes on the
street. They make up 25%-30% of the street children in the Philippines. These
children often create a sort of family among fellow street children. Some of them
still have family ties, but do not visit them and some even see these ties as bad.
"Completely abandoned children" have no family ties and are entirely on their
own for physical and psychological survival. They make up about 5%-10% of the
street children in the Philippines.
Source: http://www.streetchildren-philippines.org/Streetchildren%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf
Education System in the Philippines.
Source: http://www.streetchildren-philippines.org/Streetchildren%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf
Education System in the Philippines.
The educational system of the Philippines was patterned both from the educational systems of Spain and the United States. However, after the liberation of the Philippines in 1946, the system changed radically.
The Department of Education (or DepEd) administers the entire educational system, especially the curriculum, along with the utilization of given funds for school services, equipment, recruitment of teachers (for public schools only), etc.
The former educational system of the Philippines was composed of 6 years ofelementary education starting at the age of 6,[3] and 4 years of high school education starting at the age of 12.[4] With this system, compulsory education is not enforced.
However, the date June 4, 2012 signaled the start of the implementation of a new educational system, which is the K-12 educational system,[5] which includes the new curricula for all schools (see 2010s and the K-12 program). With this system, education will be now compulsory.
All public and private schools in the Philippines must start classes from a date mandated by the Department of Education (usually every first Monday of June for public schools only), and must end after each school completes the mandated 200-day school calendar of DepEd (usually around the third week of March to the second week of April).
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