THE favorite adage among non-government and development workers is, “Give man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.” Guided by these wise words, those who work for the marginalized sector opted to teach the people how to fish instead of giving them fish.

In response to the worsening economic crisis, the administration of President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) had simple and shallow solution – handing out fishes to the people. The past weeks saw numerous solutions dangled by the regime to alleviate the misery of the people, all of these are dole outs.

First, there was the Php 500 “lifeline” subsidy to those who consume 100-kilowatt hours or less in a month. Unable to wrestle control of MERALCO, the country’s largest electric utility firm by promising the burdened consumers with lower electricity, the administration has no choice but to give a little of something. The government shelled out Php 2 billion for this one-time subsidy.

Then, the Php 5-billion Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino program followed. Under this latest program, Php 1,400 cash stipends will be handed out to poor families. A parallel distribution of cash was also launched for the 20 poorest provinces where a monthly Php 500 plus Php 300 for every child sent to school will be given to 300,000 families.

To cushion the impact of the run-away prices of petroleum products, Malacañang has also set aside Php 1 billion to help owners of jeepneys, buses and taxis convert their diesel or gasoline-fed engines to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other alternative source like compressed natural gas (CNG). Under this scheme, an interest-free loan payable in two years is available to public utility vehicle owners who opted for the conversion. According to estimates, conversion could bring additional daily income to drivers between Php 300 to Php 500.

Earlier, the President ordered the freezing of tuition and other school fee increases in state colleges and universities to give relief to students and their parents. The regime also is maintaining its subsidy on rice with the National Food Authority (NFA) selling to the public cheap rice at Php 18.25 a kilo.

Lately, the President also signed the tax relief bill into law, exempting minimum wage earners from paying taxes. The tax relief also includes their holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift, differential pay and hazard pay.

The President is in the mood for spending-spree, handing out cash left and right. Questions were already raised on these moves of PGMA. Chief among them is if she is allowed by law to do all of these and if the government can afford to sustain these distributions of “fishes.”

While the question on probable violation of the law is a legal matter and debatable what is beyond question is the incontrovertible fact that the government does not have a deep pocket. These initiatives of the regime were described as “katas ng VAT” and are bannered under the slogan “ramdam na ramdam na ang kaunlaran.” Can the government sustain these programs without draining the almost bankrupt national coffers? Is this how Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the economist, defines trickle-down effect?

These programs may have short-term impact, but these solutions to the current crisis besieging the nation do more harm than good. It simply reinforces the mendicant attitude of the people, particularly the poor section of the populace.

For so long, the poor had been conditioned to rely on dole-outs and the government is viewed by them as the chief source of giveaways. These programs have only succeeded in sustaining the mendicant attitude of the people that contradicts the “teaching-people-how-to-fish” concept of development.

Mendicancy in fact is considered a scourge to development. Making the people dependent on dole-outs in the end is self-defeating for it does not inculcate in them the value of self-reliance, hard work and independence.

The dole-out approach is the favored solution by corrupt politicians for it keeps the poor majority dependent on them for patronage which they use to maintain their hold to power. It is quite clear these programs of the President are designed to secure her grip to power.

What these programs did was to expose the lack of coherent and comprehensive program on the part of the administration to deal with the current woes of the people. Unable to adequately respond to the crisis, it resorted to dole-outs, hoping to buy its way out of the problem. But aside from preserving the mendicant attitude of the poor, they gained nothing significant. In the end, their consequences will come back with revenge in the near future, wrecking not just the Arroyo regime but also the entire country.

One Response to “Sustaining mendicancy”

• 1
  Dr. Antonio Gestosani
  July 13th, 2008 01:55

  Mr. Fernanddez,, you hit the nail in the head. Keep pounding until Filipinos cannot take it anymore, and, may be, they will scream - enough anymore! I sounded alarmed, SOS, for a sinking of your mother ship, but nobody came to her rescue, and she is continue to sink. Does anybody cares anymore? Well, mendicancy is part pf cultural heritage of Filipinos, and politician is using this to play with misery of the helpless Filipinos for political gain. There are other ways to help them, and dole-outs is just a bandage to a deeper wound. It makes you feel good, but the disease is not cured - eventually it will kill you. My friends, dole-outs may get you buy time, but it is short term solution to a bigger and serious problem. Don’t be a dole-out nation - invest the old fashion way: work hard and earn it. Give them jobs; give them tools to be more productive; spend more to improve infrastactures; and above all, stop the fleecing of helpless Filipinos - no mre VAT, and stop the pork barrel dear Senators and Congfressmen - give it up now.

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