Poverty is indeed one of the worlds most dreadful diseases.

Dreadful in the sense that even the most powerful nation was not yet able to rusticate it. The Philippines is of course not safe with this disease. As a matter of fact, most of the people in our country think that they are poor. But what is the government doing to reduce the number of its countrymen who rate themselves poor? There have been efforts done by the Aquino administration to improve our Philippine economy and lessen poverty. One of which is the increase in government spending through infrastructure projects. Infra project which are back then infra projects. What do I mean? What is happening is that the major roads and highways are only repaired. Yes, indeed it would employ a lot of people. People would have income and eventually feel that they are not poor. But will this last? This is only a first aid and if not pampered with immediate action, this first aid will seem to be insignificant. What we need is a long term plan that would not only last for a generation but should also be sufficient to sustain the employment needs of the future generation. These projects must have been diverted into farm to market roads where dust and gravel are the tiles of these roads. This is to provide better road networks that would make the flow of commerce faster. Dzet! Infrastructure projects? Ok na. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform has finally come to its end. Supreme Court ruling said that it is final and executory. But do we really know what the ruling was? I doubt. The court ordered the Cojuangco Family (owner of the Hacienda Luisita where our beloved presidents mother came from) to distribute the lands to the tenants who toil them. BUT! The tenants will be paying for these lands in order for them to claim it as their own. Was this even fair? Another effort of him is attracting BPO industries to put up their businesses inside the country. Again, this would employ a lot of people. But unfortunately, people employed in a BPO

company tend to be the people who should be outside the country battling in the global labor competition. We all know that the Philippines, houses 3rd most English language proficient people. But with the presence of these industries, what are left out are the uncompetitive nonproficient English speakers and linguists. Putting it in the micro-level, the rich employs the poor. And if the poor kept ignorant, he will never become rich and will stay to be a servant of a master. I strongly condemn those people up there, especially the man up there. How dare you put up a non-sense fight while your people are hoping for the change you promised? Im talking about the executive-judiciary war. Asan na ang tuwid na daan? Bawal ang wang-wang? Eh yan oh, ang ingay ingay mo! Yeah, she WAS corrupt (was because she cant do it while incarcerated), but you? You ARE being insensitive. Maybe the reason why you are starting to lose control is because you realized that you are not capable of fulfilling your promise. In util. The state is separate from the church. Dont be misguided by our clement members of the clergy. They are just suppressing the continuity of your projects. The RH Bill must be passed. Should economic provisions be amended, so be it. You are the head of this country, wag kang magpaapekto sa mga kuto sa ulo ng bansang ito. The people chose you, were they chosen by the people? Ikaw din naman ang pipirma sa mga batas na yan eh. Kaya sana lang, marealize mo kung ano ang epekto ng mga pinaggagagawa mo bago mo pa man masira ang tiwala ng mga mahal nating kababayan sa mga pinuno ng bansang ito. Baka magaya pa tayo sa nangyayari sa gitnang-silangan niyan eh, hala. Kaya naman, PLEASE LANG PO!

The Currency War Just as many people think that a stronger peso means a stronger and better economy, few people take it as otherwise. For the people whose major source of income is the remittance of their loved ones abroad, a low valued peso means lower income. Say, a family receives $1000 every month. Back in the terms of the pinagpipitaganang ina ng bayan, the former president Gloria MacapagalArroyo, where the peso-dollar exchange rate almost reached P60 per $, their income was almost P60,000. But with the ever good speaker President Benigno C. Aquino, Jr.s term, where the P-$ exchange rate is only playing around P43-45 per $, it would be only P43,000 P45,000. A P15,000 discrepancy, to think that the purchasing power of the peso was then greater. Now, do we have a strong economy? For individuals who study and takes time to analyze the exchange rate, the LV peso is a big no no. A LV peso is more prone to speculators (buyers of currency). A speculators life is simple, buy dollars if they have low value, wait for the time for its value to depreciate and sell them. Example, A speculator buys $10,000 at P43/$, at the end of the month, the value of the peso went up to P46/dollar. He sells it and immediately, he has P30,000 income. Speculation is very dangerous. It drains out the dollar reserves of the CB and may create inflation. Another disadvantage of the LV peso is that it may kill exporters and local domestic producers. LV means lower profit on an exporters part. The lower the value of the peso, the higher imports will be. How? The people would buy imported products more since it would be cheaper thus, domestic producers of import substitutes will be able to sell less, be forced to lower their prices due to a lower demand to attract buyers. This may lead to bankruptcy and make these producers close their shops. People will be retrenched and thus, create unemployment.

Mariano Marcos State University COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ECONOMICS & ACCOUNTANCY City of Batac, 2906 Ilocos Norte

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In partial fulfillment of the requirements in Econ 171 (Introduction to Urban and Rural Development)

JAKE BRYSON R. DANCEL BS-Economics IV