Poverty in the Philippines

For me, the main crisis in the Philippines is the insurgency of the Left. For the many years it has been ongoing and I don't know how many more years it will last, all the opportunities (FDIs, Tourists, most importantly is peace in our countryside to let our farmers do their livelihood unhampered without fear of being caught in the crossfire between government forces and red fighters), to be able sana to catch up with our neighbors in terms of economic development are lost, because of our internal security situation.

What is the cause of the crisis?

I think by now we are all familiar with what the Left wants. With their frequent demonstrations where they shout slogans of their advocacies, we all know that they want equal distribution of wealth, equal opportunities for everybody, down with the oil cartels, feudalism, imperialism, neo-colonialism etc. etc. etc., and of course down with all the programs of the government.

The conflict is situated in the insistence of government that they are addressing all these concerns of the Left, and the Left not being satisfied and would like to do the process themselves in leading the Filipino people to greatness. But I believe the Left should be able to concretize or put out some tangible alternative programs to substantiate their motherhood statements. And let the people study and comment on such detailed programs. If this will happen, the healthy discourse, without violence, will douse out the fear of the majority of us Filipinos, that once they takeover governance, they might not allow criticism or pluralism in decision making for the common good of all of us, Filipinos.

I believe, if this crisis will fiinally be resolved our beloved Philippines, the Pearl of the Orient, will once again regain its luster! Introduction

The Philippines is one of the three countries granted exemption in 1995 from the removal of quantitative restriction (QR) on rice under Annex 5 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. Japan and South Korea are the other two countries. The exemption will expire on December 31, 2004. The primary objective of the paper is to look at the possible poverty and distributional effects of the removal of the QR and the reduction in tariffs on rice imports. In particular, the paper attempts to analyze the following issues: (a) Do the poor share in the potential gains from a freer market for rice? (b) What alternative or accompanying policy measures may be needed to ensure a more equitable distribution of the potential gains from a more liberalized market for rice? (c) What is the transmission mechanism in which the removal of the control may affect the poor? These are some critical issues that the government may have to address as it implements market reform and opens the economy.MANILA, Philippines - The country's population is projected to increase from 95.8