No meat allowed for the poor

This is such a stupid move by NSCB. So if it makes it appear as if government had not made a dent in poverty alleviation, they will have to forever redefine the poverty threshold – until what? Until only the cost of instant noodles gets in the basket?

Poverty alleviation in the Philippines is difficult due to:

1. Government revenues are not optimal due to enormous tax leakages. The employed middle class bears the bulk of the tax burden – they have no choice as it is withheld from their salaries;
2. Philippine industries are isolated from competition - most of the time in the guise of nationalism – which allows them to offer bad services at high cost. Case in point, RP has one of the highest electricity rates in the world. The same is true with telecoms. When I look at the international tariff rates here in Canada, most country’s per minute long distance calls are single digit - RP’s is not. Most of all, after I call my sister (it’s a 0917 cell), after 12 minutes, the lines gets cut off without fail. It’s as if someone programmed it to do so in order to get as many connection fees as possible. Other Filipinos report variations of the same complaint even those from the US.
As a result of lack of competion, Filipinos pay a premium on a lot of things. When my brother lived in Thailand, I was surprised that while we more or less had the same pay, their household expenses were only probably 60 to 75%. They have more disposable income to invest.
3. Corruption – This takes away money needed for public infrastructure that attracts businesses. Worse, it goes to non-producing structures like waiting sheds with matching “courtesy of Congressman Mandurugas E. Magnanakaw”. These rent-seeking thieves also discourage investment as bribes and tongs are actually additional business costs.
4. Education Deficiency- After having been exposed to educational standards abroad, I can now say that most Filipinos do not have the skill to compete in the knowledge economy which is essential for a country to be economically competitive. The education system leaves much to be desired so our graduates are relegated to menial jobs – nannies, construction workers, call center agents, etc.
5. Overpopulation – Every percent increase in population is a deduction in GDP. No matter how anti-RH people scream, at this point in time, there is just so many mouths to feed, clothe, and educate. The country does not have enough resources top adrress these needs. How can it even make a dent if for every person that gets lifted out of poverty, five more are born?

im almost  98% vegetatrian, no milk, no pandesal, no margarine, egg once a week or once very 2 weeks and only occasionally eat meat on weekends or parties with family so as not to raise “kilays” as ma-arte. so i guess, i belong to the poor? poor me! seriously, our soil is so rich u can grow ur vegies on recycled coke plastic bottles, all u have to buy is rice. hunger and vitamin deficiencies solved!

This is another way to make P-Noy’s admin look good. See - lesser poverty under his admin.
How can you  REALLY  measure and define poverty ? Definitely not based only on ” food on the table “.
If based on what the author said ” Poverty is seen when actuality is deficient compared to needs ”
There are 85 million cellphone subscribers ( as P-Noy said during his meeting – broadcasted on tv ) compared to more than 90 million population.
If we minus the infants and children under 2 years old, Seemingly everyone who can walk on his/her feet is a cellphone subscriber. 
WOW  So how can you say anybody  ANYBODY  is poor ?
Congrates clueless P-Noy. You solve the poverty problem.
Announce it to the world.

If you have the first 4 reasons why poverty allleviation is difficult in the Philippines, the overpopulation myth is not a problem.  Just add PRODUCTIVITY AND OPPORTUNITIES and you would have made the perfect score, if coupled with sound economic policies implemented with political will so that effective economic management can happen are thrown in.  Many people living in abject economic conditions lack the opportunities to earn on a decent livelihood or gainful jobs; many also do not have the needed skills to be gainfully employed by industries, despite the wanted ads you find in newspapers for jobs to fill.  In an atmosphere of peace and order, more educational and economic  opportunities can flow to the “neglected” and poor countryside.  The womenfolk in slums and informal settlements should be given work to do, trained to produce products for tourists and the export market competitively in home or cottage industries, making it possible for their children to go to school while adding to the family income (with less time for procreating needlessly children they cannot feed).  Government should increase its efforts to provide shelter for the homeless and, by training them “to fish,” becoming independent from dole-outs, we would have a healthier, balanced population rate.

There is no point in trying to achieve zero or negative population growth; this situation has its own evils and problems.  We are gradually going towards the “middle ground,” a population rate that allows for a sound “replacement rate.”  To subject the country, especially our youth, to 40 years of condom and artificial contraceptive culture and serve the mammon of contraceptive drug profits for that long just to fall into another, perhaps untold problems in the future, is not exactly sound economic policy.  There are over 450 laws that cannot fly due to lack of public funds and here we are trying to craft another unnecessary piece of legislation that would require billions upon billions over decades of taxpayer funding to buy tax exempted “essential medicines” which are in reality geared to quash life away at any stage by its very composition or by the intention of the user. To legalize the bundle of “reproductive rights,” proponents of the rh bill even hide the real agenda behind their efforts which is to legalize also in the future, abortion, divorce, same sex marriages, free and promiscuous sex as a bundle of “human rights” disgorged from their objective basis in the Natural Law and therefore based solely on social contracts, relativity, subjectivism, libertinism and hedonism.

If we can level the playing field, work as a community of citizens for the common good of the country to raise the quality of life for all, giving HOPE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE to the poorest of the poor so that they will see meaning and betterment in their lives in the brotherhood of fellow Filipinos and working towards their full human development in the light of the Gospel message of justice, love and peace, we could truly restore all things in Christ, the beginning and the end.  No to the rh bill!!! 

Any definition of the “poverty line” should take into account that the value of money has gone down and hence for most people reducing the daily poverty threshold of P52 to P46 smacks of a political agenda.  For whose benefit? 

Then they also lower the mediocrity level of Filipino students from failing mark 70% down to 40% in national exams.

They also lower the corruption level of corrupt Filipinos from stealing 1 million to 0.5 million in order to justify that corruption is legal in the Philippines.

Through the years, Filipinos and Filipino politicians are becoming more stupid, and more stupid.

some veggies are more expensive than meat. unless your diet is just composed of camote leaf and kangkong.

the article is not about meat, read again.

Just let the media help the government in spreading lies, no need to create stupid laws.

If the media reports, poverty incidence lowered to 20% from 40% in previous year, that is it. People will just believed that they are richer now than the previous year. They are no longer poor.

Media and the government are members of the Mafia. Their goal is to forever make Filipinos mediocre and stupid.

behanest, yung amo mo ang nagredefine ng qualification. remember?

Natural Law dictates that we have sex when we feel like it (urge and opportunity). If we follow this, we’d be breeding like rabbits. Not a very good plan.
 
Being fruitful to populate god’s earth would be a great idea if we didn’t have to feed, clothe and educate them kids. Kaya lang mahal talaga mag-anak ng madami these days.
 
So in lieu of artificial birth control methods, we use natural birth control. But isn’t that prohibiting conception, too? Or are we supposed to just follow natural law?
 
Also, I don’t think abstinence is natural.
 

yeah  you’re right only rich people go vegetarian by choice (rural poor go vegetarian by necessity). And I wish growing veggies is that easy, growing them on plastic bottles, please remember that seeds cost money, and in areas like MM, you’ll be lucky if there is an DA office nearby with free seeds . And by the way before you can eat them , it takes time for them to grow. You’re lucky you have enough money to BUY them 

I think you missed the point. You are vegetarian by choice. That word ”by choice” is a very important concept.   
The new menu definition is regrettable because it constraints the choices of the poor. Technically, to make pogi points, the government substantially lowered the poverty threshold. Yung dating mahirap is now considered middle class. This is sad because nothing changed about the people’s economic situation. Instead of tackling the issue of poverty head on, the government resorted to fancy tricks on measurement.
It is said that the true definition of poverty is not the absence of money or assets but the lack of options. This menu definition where people are forced to be vegetarians – whether they like it or not -  highlights just that.

Why isn’t there a movement here like the “Occupy Wall Street” in the USA and elsewhere? More than ever Filipinos have every right to be angry with the 1% who continue to manipulate and take advantage of the 99%. Are we that timid?

The wise guy who defined poverty line at P46, let him try to live with it. he wont last a week.

Puro kayo survey, di naman makakain yan ng masa..pati paghihirap ng mga tao pinagkakakitaan nyo!! Ang dami dami ng ginawang survey sa kung anoano at kung saan saan,wala namang resulta,kumita lang kayo!

Passing all that burden on govt to provide everything (work, jobs, shelter, etc) won’t work-  even if corruption is minimized and taxes are raised. Kulang pa rin, if the bulk of population growth comes from the poor.

Zero or negative population growth was never a goal. Where did you get that?

Your last paragraph’s optimism is admirable but it operates in fantasy land.
In short, suntok sa buwan. We need workable solutions, not unrealistic hopes. Even the most developed countries in the world have not achieved it in full.
 

sino kaya nagbayad ng survey na to??? 

Because we don’t have Macs and iPhones to organize a protest against the Man. :)

Sarcasm aside, most of the Filipinos got burned. What were the results of 2 EDSAs? Who benefited from those? And you think a people will sacrifice their wages in exchange of rallying?

doesn’t one know that the cellphones are gadgets of security and communication? they calm the nerve to know the whereabouts of your relatives whether employed outside our country or within.they also lessen the constraints of travelling just know how the family members are doing.  the cellphones also replaced the foregone pleasure of going to movies. makinig na lang to songs, it’s cheaper.

cellphones are necessities rather than of extravagance.  we may not be deficient in our communication needs but it nevertheless covers for our insufficiency in other basic needs.

Let’s start it anyway.  I will throw my support 100%. 

And compared to other Asian countries like Thailand and India, medicines in the Phils are nx more expensive all because of monoploy. 

So what then, because “the bulk of population growth comes from the poor”? Kill all the poor? Never heard of optimizing what you have? By giving the existing HUMAN CAPITAL the opportunity to develop to their full potential human development, by giving them HOPE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, you level the playing field and limit the possibility of procreative obsession.  It is the duty of government to see to it that constituents of whatever social station in life become productive members of society and contribute to the economic well-being of society.  If the womenfolk are given jobs or livelihood (say home/cottage industry where products could be sold to tourists or the export markets) opportunities, they could gainfully contribute to the income of the family, their children can be shepherded to schools and seeing hope beyond abject poverty, they would be liberated from resorting to sex unduly to release their frustration in life.  Freedom from poverty is their liberation from sexual irresponsibility, not free condoms and contraceptives without discipline and realizable dreams for the future through social justice.

By an aggressive legislated birth control policy that goes under the misnomer “reproductive HEALTH” over time, say in 40 years, zero or negative population growth would be achieved.  Maybe you do not have this in mind personally, but when condoms and artificial methods, devices and procedures whether mechanical, surgical/medical, chemical, are pushed with all the means at government disposal (just analyse the current rh bill) you cannot but agree that the goal is there hidden, more than rh proponents would care to admit.  Or, are we that blind that we cannot see the ruse?  When organizations and international institutions and foundations push contraception and abortion so hard, do you think that they will stop after 2,3,5,10,15 years?  Will drugs for these purposes suddenly lose their “essential medicines” tag and allow the country a sound and safe “replacement rate” to stabilize the population?  Will transnational contraceptive drug manufacturers stop their money-making activities to say “tama na, sobra na,” we will now focus on the middle way because you thought it “was never a goal”?  Only fools rush in!

The world is full of cynics and pessimists.  Let’s welcome a whiff of fresh air and change the world.  Let us see meaning in life: a kind of life the poor wants to also live but could not.  Let us restore all things in Christ, the Alpha and the Omega.  He came to save the world and give hope to those in despair and in need of redemption because of neglect. We are part of the plan of salvation, not only of the soul but also of the body.  The poor are our neighbors, too, that we are commanded to love.  NO TO THE RH BILL!!!

Natural law does not dictate to have sex when you feel like it.  Reason is the ultimate guide under the circumstances and having some control and self discipline is part of it.  We cannot just grab a beautiful woman in the presence of everybody because we feel like it and the opportunity is there!  Reason would tell us to hold our horses!  The Natural Law neither tells you to populate the earth if you cannot afford to do your responsibility of feeding, clothing and educating the kids you bring forth. That is why modern Natural Family Planning Methods are available which are inexpensive, more reliable and safer for health than artificial contraception.  Thus, resorting to Natural Family Planning Methods when there is a need to space the number of children in the family is not prohibiting conception but an exercise of parental responsibility.  And, it is so natural because it follows the reproductive cycle which is naturally either a period of fertility or non-fertility in a woman of reproductive age.  Thus abstinence is natural because you can make sex during the infertile days of a woman’s cycle in reproductive age or when she is actively lactating her baby. I assure you it is perfectly natural. Many people can abstain from sex and respect the feelings of their female partner at times when they do not feel like having it.  More heroically, for the kingdom of heaven, elevated to the altars of the Church are men and women who have proven it is natural, since sublimation of sex is natural. 

Thanks for the well threshed out reply.

Natural law relies heavily on human reason, which is great.

That is why we must trust that human reason will guide people in choosing the best family planning method available.

Tristanism, conception is not bad.  In modern Natural Family Planning Methods, which even as now are less expensive, reliable and safer, when conception is decided to by the couple, they can make it possible and is not prohibited.  It is the right of married couples to plan their families.  Thus, they can very well choose not to copulate during the fertile period of the woman during reproductive age.  There is a natural rhythm of fertile and infertile days and we could see clearly that nature has provided the proper use of this God-given faculty to man, engraved in the very nature of sex physically, physiologicallly, biologically and anatomically.  Clearly without artificial contraception, nature has provided well for man, in accordance with the Natural Law that is written in creation, the way God intended things to be.  Thus, rushing things could be fatal.  It was St. Thomas Aquinas who said that “a small error in the beginning could become a blunder in the end.”  We need to have prudence to be able to judge well and anticipate problems in the future before we jump from the frying pan directly to the fire.  No to the rh bill.

I agree. The ovulation method is effective, and it should be endorsed by the government.

However, the rest of us who do not share your belief should be able to choose. Kung ako ay nananalig at ako ay napagsabihan na gamitin ang natural family planning, dapat sundin ko yun. Pero kung hindi naman, bakit mo naman ipipilit sa akin ang paniniwala mo?

In other words, you cannot say that your kungfu is better than my kungfu. You cannot force your belief on me, in the same way that I should not force my belief on you.

We should not legislate morality. This is done from the pulpit or stage or wherever you exhort people to be moral. Laws are made for people, regardless of religious afiliation.

The RH bill (family planning methods) gives people options. It does not change their morality.

If people choose to follow the natural family planning method, well and good. If they choose to follow other methods, it’s called free will.