Statistics give an abstract index of what Filipinos have inherited from the past that profoundly mark their present lives.
Of about sixty-nine million Filipinos today, 72% are extremely impoverished; mostly peasants and workers, they are scattered throughout 7,000 islands once endowed with abundant natural resources but now almost one unrelieved ecological disaster.
In 1950 the country had 52 million hectares of tropical forest, now only a million hectares remain (8 May 1992). In the primate city of Manila, 38% live below the poverty line; 40% inhabit sub-standard squatter settlements. Almost 40% of the entire work force are unemployed or underemployed.
The Philippines has one of the lowest per capita income and one of the lowest wage rates in the world.
Filipinos are the second most malnourished in the whole world despite the country being a top producer and exporter of food, minerals, and labor power, one of the most vital resources for transnational capital: between 4 to 6 million Filipino overseas contract workers fulfill the needs of the world for cheap semi-skilled non-unionized labor.
With a per capita income of $2000 to $3000, the Philippines is easily ranked the poorest in the region if not one of the poorest in the world.
Given the rising unemployment, inflation and high prices of basic foods, lack of capital goods industries, corruption in government, and a huge foreign debt, the immediate prospect for amelioration of the lot of the majority is practically nil.
In 1999, the Philippine government announced that nearly 32% of poverty level children drop out of elementary school due to peer pressure.
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Time Magazine Poll of Philippines: 30 percent of couples are unaware babies come from having sex...
There are 4,000 babies born per year, giving the Philippines a 2.6% net growth.