The Paper tiger
(between poverty and globalization)

The Philippines, formed by an archipelago of more 7100 islands in the asian southeast, north of the equator, are inabitated by nearly 90 million people.
The archipelago is formed by four groups of main islands: the group of Luzon
in the north, Mindanao with Sulu island in the south, the visasyas islands in the centre and the island of Palawan which lies on south-west. The tropical climate, the volcano origins of the ground, the river system and the long cost line make this country rich of natural resources. The main productive sector of the country
is agriculture which absorbs nearly half of the active population, although the sector is going trough a deep crisis, mainly because for the concentration of the working fields are owned by a tight group of landlords.
Until the half of the ‘50s the Philippines were considered one of the emergent countries with the highest standard of development. One of the tigers of the South East Asia. In the last 20 years the country fell into the worst economical crisis ever. The development was based on construction and financial speculations, not followed by a strengthen of the industrial sector or a agriculture reform which could have helped the conditions of the farmers and improve the production. The high level of unemployment, the rising of the cost of living, low salaries and so the reduced capacity of buying are just some of the indicators of the actual economical situation of the Philippines. The majority of the population meet enormous difficulties to maintain a dignified life.
In november, 2001, the basic daily salary was about 6 euro in Metro Manila and between 3 and 5 euro in the province, not enough to support the cost of living for a 6 people family, estimated about 11 euro in Metro Manila and almost 9 in the province. In this contest, more and more philippinos are obliged to look for a job abroad, leaving behind families and contributing, with their salaries, to reduce the constant debt of the country.
This difficult economical condition was one of the causes of the popular revolt of january 2001, which caused the overtaking of Gloria Macapagal Arrojo on president Estrada. In front of the growing malcontent of the population and the difficult conditions of the country finances, the president Arroyo bets on her political consolidation through the fight to the muslim rebels of Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao. The philipino government asked the direct intervention of US army, which is now based in large number on the island of Bazilan and in the western part of Mindanao. The opposition of the population, both in the southern island and in the rest of the country, is growing day by day. At the same time, the guerrilla of the New People’s army and Moro Islamic Liberation Front goes on.