Where does the Philippines fit in the above scenarios? With a population of 100 million and with an estimate of only 38 million members employed, the Philippines is the 12th most populous and is among the poorest countries in the world. Add to this information, Filipinos rely mostly on imports to feed themselves. Our main staple is rice but Filipinos are incapable of producing enough rice to feed its entire population. The Philippines is in fact the number one importer of rice because of Filipinos’ addiction to the grain. In terms of income, the country also relies heavily on the international community to provide jobs for skilled and non-skilled Filipinos with an estimated of more than one million (and counting) Filipinos working abroad as overseas foreign workers (OFWs). The continued deployment of Filipino workers abroad has provided support to the country’s economy with the steady flow of remittances expected to top $20 billion this year. This has helped support consumption and helped keep the economy from collapsing. Likewise, the country’s national security depends on international assistance as well. Without the assistance of the United States military, the Philippine military is ill equipped, too incompetent and too corrupt to provide security for the nation even against threats coming from within. To be sure, in an extreme scenario, the Philippines if left alone, could possibly have a collapsed economy, sink into anarchy and maybe cannibalism. Is a large population helping the Philippines stay afloat then?
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:02:00 +0000
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