Philippine Rural Economy

Ronnel Ladac Usero

ATUC/Youth and Women Committee
Rural Economy in the Philippines
mainly comprise of:
•Agriculture
•Fisheries
•Forestry
•Livestocks
About one billion people around the world live in slums. About 2% of slum
dwellers worldwide can be found in the Philippines, an island nation.
(The Business Mirror, 2017)
The capital city of Manila sits on the northwest coast of the Philippines. It
contains a booming business district, residential areas, and slums and
shanty towns on the fringes.
Rural – Urban Migration Paradox
• The burgeoning urban-poor
problem and all its other
attendant social problems like
squatter-housing congestion,
joblessness, criminality, drugs,
prostitution, traffic, street-
children and juvenile
delinquency are blamed partly
on the massive “rural-to-urban
migration.”
• Past efforts to reverse rural –
urban migration proved
Metro Manila…
• The more the
government beautified
the Urban Cities, the
more its glitters
attracted
rural folks who were
lured by the promises
of a better life, stable
jobs, neon lights,
shopping malls and
other amenities.
Simply put….
• It is widespread countryside
poverty, which accounts for 76.1
percent of total poverty, that is
pushing younger rural folks to
seek “greener pastures” in
the “concrete jungles,”
leaving behind their parents,
thus, farmers are on the
average older at 58 years old.
Salient Points:
• Agriculture plays a significant role in the Philippine economy.
Involving about 40 percent of Filipino workers, it contributes an
average of 20 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
• The main agricultural enterprise is crop cultivation. Others are
chicken broiler production, including operation of chicken
hatcheries, agricultural services, and hog farming,
• The general trends in the last two decades present a dim picture
of the agriculture sector. Significant decrease in productivity, high
production costs, and low government support to the sector,
among other things, have led to a crisis in Philippine agriculture.
WHAT IS THE PRIMORDIAL CAUSE?
The neglect of these sectors and the uneven distribution of
resources worsened the poverty situation in rural areas. Only the
remittances of migrant workers to their families have enabled the latter
to survive crippling poverty brought about by stagnant agricultural
productivity, stiff competition from cheaper food imports, and periodic
droughts and floods that devastated crops and livelihoods.
Government Solutions:
• Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program – 4Ps ( a Conditional Cash
Program of the Philippine Government)
• Technical Skills Development Program in relation to Agro-
Industrial Modernization and Economic Zones
• Land Distribution through LAND REFORM PROGRAM
• Agro-Industrial Modernization ( government – financed
modernization by which the main objective is to enhance the
agricultural productivity through modern methods in agriculture
and modern technology)
• Creation of more Economic Zones ( with a condition of hiring the
rural people or locals.
Enhancing the Conditional Cash Program (CCT)
known as the “Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program
(4Ps)
• It is a government program
that provides conditional
cash grants to the poorest of
the poor in the Philippines.
The program aims to break
the cycle of poverty by
keeping children aged 0-18
healthy and in school, so
they can have a better
future.
• Households receive cash
grants if children stay in school
and get regular health check-
ups, have their growth
monitored, and receive
vaccines.
• Pregnant women must get
pre-natal care, with their births
attended to by professional
health workers. Parents or
guardians are required to
participate in monthly
community-based Family
Development Sessions to learn
about positive child discipline,
disaster preparedness, and
4Ps, described.
• The program has one of the most comprehensive poverty
targeting databases in the world today, covering 75% of the
country’s population.
• It has been used extensively to identify poor and near-poor
beneficiaries for national and local government programs.
• The 4Ps is currently the world’s fourth-largest CCT program
based on population coverage.
• It complements the government’s other development
priorities such as generating jobs and creating livelihood
opportunities for the poor.
The Word Bank,
2017
 Philippine Government Response under the Dutertenomics (
President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Economic Policy)

President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build Plan” is an ambitious undertaking, and indeed
has a great potential to make the Philippines a stronger, more developed nation. Still,
the government’s pursuit to achieve a “Golden Age of Infrastructure” can also prove
to be an exceptional burden to the economy and many Filipinos in the long run.
 MABUHAY!
Thank you very much for listening!