UN: Anti-RH Policies of Ex-Manila Mayors Atienza and Lim Drove Constituents Deeper Into Poverty

By: Tricia Aquino, InterAksyon.com
May 4, 2015 8:04 PM

MANILA – A United Nations committee says that two executive orders of former Manila mayors Jose Atienza, Jr., and Alfredo Lim got in the way of women’s access to reproductive health services and contraceptives, consequently driving many constituents further into poverty as they were unable to manage the number of their children and suffered the consequences of unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths.

This was contained in a report issued last month by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Malnutrition Still Prevalent Among Poor Pinoy Kids – Survey

July 24, 2014 8:04pm

Malnutrition among Filipino children aged 0 to 5 years remains prevalent, particularly those who belong among the poorest sector, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) said in a survey.

FNRI, in its 8th National Nutrition Survey released Thursday, noted that while there was a slight decrease in the number of underweight children and those affected by stunting (low height-for-age) for 2013, numbers for other forms like wasting (low weight-for-height) and overweight went up.

Mayhem Rules for Filipina Mom in Shanty Baby Boom

Catholic opposition has kept a Philippines birth-control law passed in 2012 from reaching the women in shanties, where the birth rate is booming. Our reporter visits a woman who wanted three children and wound up with eight, aged 2 to 21.

Teresita Buctot, 46, with her 4-year-old son Brian on her lap and 20-year-old son Albert and his child behind her, in their home in Quezon City, Philippines. (WEN/Iris Gonzales)

Published: March. 11, 2013 at 5:56 PM By Iris Gonzales

QUEZON CITY, Philippines {WOMENSENEWS}–The smell of a simmering pot of rice wafts in the air in this slapdash shanty of sticks and plywood, here in a slum dwelling in the northern part of Quezon City, Philippines.

Teresita “Tes” Buctot, 46, calls her son Keith to put out the fire. Keith is 12 but looks half his age because of malnutrition. He is carrying his 2-year-old sister Rhea, impossibly heavy for his thin and lanky frame, drooping in his oversized royal blue shirt. He puts her down on the rickety wooden staircase and turns on the battered television before rushing to the cooking area, now hazy with smoke. Rhea sobs uncontrollably and cries out to mama.

But Buctot has her hands full, preparing to wash heaps of laundry scattered on the floor; shirts, blankets, a pink bra, some worn-out men’s jeans, too. She calls Jon, another son, 6 years old, to attend to Rhea and wipe her runny nose.

Welcome to mayhem, Buctot’s home, here in a shanty community filled with sacks of colored plastic bags recycled from trash.

Buctot, a plump woman with some strands of gray hair, whirls of dark eye bags, chipped-off fuchsia toenail polish and a light purple shirt that reads Princess, is mother to eight children, aged 2 to 21.

(Video) How RH Bill Can Help the Poor

TheABSCBNNews

Published on Dec 21, 2012
MANILA Philippines — The reproductive health (RH) bill is a landmark measure passed by the Congress. Ryan Chua tells us the challenges facing government in implementing the law and how it can help the poor.

The Cycle of Poverty and Pregnancy

By Erik De Castro OCTOBER 2, 2012

By Erik de Castro

It was a few minutes before 6 a.m. when I arrived at the dwelling of Liza Cabiya-an, 39, and her 14 children. Liza was pouring coffee on a plate of rice as her five small children, including her youngest 11-month-old baby, huddled on the floor around her waiting to be served their breakfast. On a good day, Liza says breakfast would be pan de sal, or the classic Filipino salt bread, which they dip into hot instant coffee.

While the small children have their breakfast, Liza’s nine other children were still asleep, shoulder-to-shoulder, in a room of approximately 9-square meters.

The only appliances they have are the television and a DVD player. The glassless window provides natural ventilation to the space. Liza’s family lives on the third floor of a three-story tenement in a slum neighborhood in Paco, in the Philippines capital Manila. I had to go up a narrow wooden ladder to reach their dwelling. Residents of the tenement share the same toilet, which is on the second floor. Liza complains that there are nights when they have to endure the stink of the toilet, which is not regularly cleaned.

“Life is hard with so many children but we still try to have fun,” says Liza as she turns on the TV, inserts a music CD in the DVD player and, as if on cue, the little kids start to dance. The noise wakes up the rest of the brood. “I still remember the names and birthdays of each of them,” Liza boasts with a grin, revealing her decaying teeth. After a while, she turns off the music and half-jokingly says, “That’s it for now. Too much activity will make them hungry again.”

Our Population is Ticking, Ticking, and Ticking Fast

by Eusebio Seballos on Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 1:12am

We feel and know that everyday life in the Philippines particularly in our cities is increasingly more dense, with more births.

Think about the population like a clock. It is ticking and ticking fast. The clock says that in 2011, the population was 103,775,002 (July 2011 est. from http://www.indexmundi.com). These year, it is 105,681,347(July 2012 my estimate based on population growth rate, r=1.9%). With each passing day, almost 5466 more births is added to our population.

By my estimation, our population will double to 208 million between 40 to 50 years using my derived formula of t = 70/r, where r is 1.9 (expressed as population growth rate without the percent).

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/eusebio-seballos/our-population-is-ticking-ticking-and-ticking-fast/10152098141920051

RH Bill: Key to Attaining Inclusive Growth

FULL DISCLOSURE By Fidel O. Abalos (The Freeman) Updated June 25, 2012 12:00 AM

The past several years, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew significantly. In fact, spurred by consumer demand, the resurgence of exports and investments as well as election-related spending, it grew considerably by 7.3% in 2010. Truth to tell, despite a very much maligned Arroyo administration, our economy parlayed the 2008-2009 recession better than our other Asian neighbors. Moreover, the boom in the outsourcing industry and the steadily increasing remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) that is now nearing US$2 billion per month have added impetus to a once sagging economy. Consequently, our economy grew at a yearly average of 4.5% the past decade.

Despite this rosy picture, however, poverty has worsened. Thus, our countrymen are wondering, why in heaven’s name we claim to have grown significantly and yet majority of our brethrens are languishing in poverty. Is it possible? Yes, it is. For one, economic growth is generally measured in terms of GDP. Increase in GDP does not necessarily trickle down to the grassroots. It simply means that the pace of growth is there but the path or pattern of growth does not cut through the working class or the masses. To put it bluntly, we certainly have “economic growth” but, absolutely, there is no “inclusive growth”.

(Video) PCF CNN Report – Pagpag

Published on Jun 1, 2012 by Ring Pull

CNN news report on the work of PCF – Philippine Community Fund.
Smokey Mountain rubbish dump Manila – Philippines.

Report following the ‘pagpag’ lady, selling chicken scraps thrown out by restaurants as food to many families living in slums.

Pagpag: All Eyes on Poverty in PH

By Ira Pedrasa, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 05/01/2012 7:00 PM | Updated as of 05/01/2012 7:35 PM

Gov’t: We are now addressing the issue

MANILA, Philippines — All eyes are now on the Philippines. But beyond its slick tourism slogan is the “brutal reality” of poverty.

CNN showed on Tuesday a report on “pagpag,” which it described as a “grim staple for Manila’s poor.”

The report by Kyung Lah showed Felipa Fabon waiting for trash bags from restaurants. Fabon is seen sorting through the garbage to look for “pagpag” or food scraps, which she said she will later sell or cook.

(Video) ‘Garbage Chicken’ a Grim Staple for Manila’s Poor

By Kyung Lah, CNN
updated 11:15 PM EDT, Mon April 30, 2012
CNN.com

(CNN) — Felipa Fabon waits outside a local fried chicken restaurant in Manila. Crouching near to feral cats and rubbish bins, she isn’t there to meet friends for dinner but to search through the diner’s trash bags.

“I’m sorting the garbage, looking for ‘pagpag’,” she says.

In Tagalog “pagpag” means the dust you shake off your clothing or carpet, but in Fabon’s poverty- stricken world, it means chicken pulled from the trash.

Pagpag is the product of a hidden food system for the urban poor that exists on the leftovers of the city’s middle class.