by Dulcinea DR

Created on: April 18, 2008

Is Philippines a poor country that's why it belongs to the third world? I was questioning myself as I looked at a co-passenger - a young boy, about seven to nine years old, yesterday at past five o'clock in the morning in the "jeepney" (a public utility vehicle for the common people). I couldn't help but notice his untidy look, and his yellow slippers filled with dirt. He was sleeping behind the driver's seat, with his head banging in the air because his unconscious young mind couldn't afford to lean someone's shoulder or something that might have supported his head. What's sad was that the lady sitting beside him would often lean away to avoid being touched by the sleeping boy.

It was past five in the morning, and the state of the boy told me that he could be sleeping in his seat for at least an hour. Where are his parents, for God's sake?! Could he be the son of the driver or a beggar who only hopped in without ever knowing how long and far would he go?

Again, where are the boy's parents whose supposed to provide even just a simple yet decent life for him, a bed to comfort him as he sleeps, clean clothes to wear, and a place he can call home? Are the parents the only one to question? How about the government?

Philippines is not a poor country, and not every child sleeps inside a "jeepney". Philippines is a rich country with its vast natural resources that other countries in the first world would do even the horrible things just to control my country so they can sip off its beauty and wealth. Not only that, Filipinos are famous around the world for being hard working, intelligent, and creative.

Still, the question rings in my head up to now. Reality cries out loud the impoverishment of the majority of the Filipino population. Poverty weeps in the middle of shopping malls, theme parks, casinos, exclusive resort, golf and country clubs, and other luxurious places where the rich mindlessly spend their money, and other opportunist politicians waste the nation's funding, in which Filipinos earned hard just to pay the taxes that is incorporated in any material thing.

The cost of living is getting higher as all the basic commodities become expensive while salary remains the same. Since 2008 started, I can no longer count in my fingers how many times did the oil price hike. And now, as the second quarter starts, the nation is facing another battle against hunger as rice supply are being held from the consumers, resulting to price increasing at least once a week. Where

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