Theme: Poverty in the Philippines
Form: Online Documentaries
Writer: Correspondent Mark Litke
Poverty
is a problem faced by most countries in the world. It is something that we
cannot deny within ourselves as we see them with our naked eyes in everyday life
almost everywhere we go. This economic and social problem can be widely seen as
it continues to spread in the Philippines. It is something that the Philippine
government, as well as the Filipino people should never be ignorant of. In fact, it has been a way of life for most
people who cannot afford to earn a living.
Philippine
poverty reaches one and a half million children as it continues to spread. They
spend most of their childhood in the streets begging for food and money. There
are also children living with their parents along the road but still can barely
buy food or may somehow afford to buy some but it is definitely insufficient to
support them on a daily basis. Poverty also paved its way to become one of the
causes why crime rate continues to rise up for many people on their teenage
years, live their lives dependent on drugs, alcohol, etc. which leads them to
committing violent acts such as physical and sexual abuse, prostitution, and
such. Public places and constructions such as railroads even became a shelter
for Filipino families. This situation therefore makes children prefer more to
live on the streets rather than on their small and dirty houses. A missionary
who was once a street boy had a heart for this situation in the Philippine
society. He was able to change the perspective of people about life and even
gave them hope amidst their situation through giving them a home where they can
live a normal life. As UNICEF organization said, “The problem of street children
will not be solved anytime soon.” For the mean time, they are trying to give solutions
to this problem with all that they can like giving them survival skills to save
them from violence and abuse, thus somehow lessening the threat of life.
The maker of this documentary is from the World Focus. The
writer of the message of this documentary tries to give out its message to the Filipinos. The documentary used techniques
which attracted their viewers such as personal interviews of certain victims of
the said issue, specialists on this case and even gave accurate
research which gave us a background on the topic being discussed. The documentary also gave us a clear picture of the issue that they are trying to relay, the flow of the scenes are well-organized and gave out a storyline to its viewers of the said reality. The message
is somewhat threatening because we can see
that life for some people is a threat and maybe for them life gives no hope
when faced with this situation. It is also disappointing seeing how people earnestly pay for their taxes yet you still tend to see this kind of scenario in the country. The documentary gives impact to its viewers and is
powerful for it makes one grateful for life and it gives a heart to its viewers
for the needy.
