No Longer a Third World Country?
Taken from an article in Philippine Inquirer:
Philippines now ‘Second World,’ says Arroyo
“The economy is showing strong signs of health, not only because of the stock market or the strong peso, but on the fact that at last our people will be enjoying a per capita income of 1,400 dollars this year,” Arroyo said.
“Right now, we’re not Third World anymore. At 1,400 dollars we are now Second World, a middle class country, and we’ll be able to achieve, if we are able to continue the trajectory of (a) one percent decline in the poverty level, we can reach hopefully the First World status by the year 2020,” she said.
“The economy is showing strong signs of health, not only because of the stock market or the strong peso, but on the fact that at last our people will be enjoying a per capita income of 1,400 dollars this year,” Arroyo said.
“Right now, we’re not Third World anymore. At 1,400 dollars we are now Second World, a middle class country, and we’ll be able to achieve, if we are able to continue the trajectory of (a) one percent decline in the poverty level, we can reach hopefully the First World status by the year 2020,” she said.
How do you really define first, second and third world? And the Filipinos receiving 1,400 dollars per capita income this year? Hahaha! Very funny… ‘coz the way I see it, especially in rural areas, many people are becoming jobless and prices are shooting up. I see more people having more difficult lives.
When I was still working in the Philippines, it really hurt a lot seeing my payslip with the 25-30% income tax deduction. I talked to a Japanese friend and she told me that their income tax is only about 10%! I would have paid my tax whole-heartedly if I am sure that it is used for the benefit of everyone. But no, last time I heard from the news, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) still was 40% off from its projected tax collection. The saddest part is, most of the tax evaders are the “big fishes”. Another thing that really infuriates me is the misuse of government funds. Why does the government allocate hundreds of millions of pesos for the election campaign funds?
Seeing the Philippines attain the status of a first-world country is really a wishful thinking. Unless the corruption is minimized (if not at all eliminated), and every Filipino take on the responsibility of reviving our country, then it’s just another impossible feat.
Philippines is my home. Despite everything, I still choose to stay there someday for good. I may not be a good citizen but I still want and I still hope that one day, Philippines will at least become what we, Filipinos hope it would become. ^-^
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May 30th, 2007 at 5:10 am
pataka ra man ngali atong presidente shie. xa ra guro ang ni-asenso padong second world!
May 31st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
ha ha.. sakto jud… sya ra ang mi-asenso padung second world
September 22nd, 2007 at 12:39 am
maybe. at least we are ahead of Bangladesh and Myanmar for goodness sake! =D
I’d love to see Filipinas as a 1st World country in the future.
But we must first reform the entirety. Society and not just government only must be reformed.
What we need is thorough Discipline in order to achieve what we wish for our motherland.
But are we willing for such? I am and maybe you do. I don’t about the others though…
Sad…oh well.
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:24 am
@rollchan
I agree. The whole country desperately needs discipline. But, I think it should start from the top, from the ruling body… because as you have noticed, if Filipinos are placed under an iron hand, we are capable of walking in a straight line