What poverty looks like in the Philippines, according to VP Leni Robredo
With Roger Santos of ANCOP-USA during the organization’s May 19 fundraiser in West Orange, New Jersey. Photo by Elton Lugay
If poverty in the Philippines had a name, it would be Agutaya.
An obscure island town in the northeastern part of Palawan, Agutaya has a population of more than 12K people spread across 10 barangays. To get to Agutaya, one travels 10 hours by boat from the larger and more tourist-friendly Coron Island. Because of its remoteness from the city, Agutaya has become this “hidden paradise” where inns rent for anywhere from $15 to $30 a room.
A 5th class municipality, Agutaya has an annual income of anywhere from P1 million to P3 million (approx. $22K to $56K). Tourism is not enough to lift the people from poverty.
Vice President Leni Robredo, who visited New Jersey in May, spoke about Agutaya before members of ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor), the lay organization of Couples for Christ. She described a town that is “geographically isolated and marginalized,” with nearly half its population living below the poverty line.
“When we first went there,” she began, “the entire town of Agutaya did not have electricity and had limited access to potable water. They had no hospital or any modern health facility. The nearest doctor was in Cuyo, another island which is at least a two-hour boat ride away, and the health center in Cuyo is not even well-equipped. For complicated treatments, you have to travel to the nearest hospital, which is 14 to 16 hours away by boat.”
Robredo saw the children and noticed something not quite right.
“They asked the schoolchildren to line up in the streets to meet me, and the principal was introducing me to the kindergarten students, to the Grade 1… everyone was happy we were there. But when we looked at the Grade 5 students, I was asking the principal: ‘How come the Grade 5 students were only as tall as the Grade 1 students?’ And we were told that most of the children there were stunted. And stunting is a condition brought about by malnutrition, which affects not just the child’s physical faculties but also their mental abilities. And to make matters worse, stunting is irreversible after the age of five,” she said.
Vice President Leni Robredo visited Agutaya town in Palawan in 2016; she is shown here with the town’s malnourished children. (Photo: Office of the Vice President)
Although the families are impoverished, the children appear happy and in good spirits. They love playing with live crabs as their toy cars. “Tinatalian nila iyong mga buhay na alimango, and that was their… iyong kotse-kotse nila,” was how Robredo characterized Agutaya’s kids making do with what they have.
When the Office of the Vice President team arrived for the first time, the people began to cry.
“We were puzzled why,” she said. “Later on, we found out that they were actually caught in a moment of overwhelming emotion because they are rarely visited, and having someone from the national government come and visit meant they have not been forgotten after all.”
They found the only school in town has remained in ruins although it’s been four years since typhoon Yolanda descended on Palawan. “They (local officials) said, ‘Siguro po hindi pa nalalaman sa DepEd (Department of Education) Manila na sira pala ang school namin.’”
The OVP has visited Agutaya many more times after that, she said, bringing with them assistance from foundations and charity organizations. One of them, the Philippine Toy Library, for instance, has built a play space for the children of Agutaya, filled with brand-new toys. Partner organizations, ASA Philippines and Team Energy, have installed solar panels in three barangays bringing electricity to 400 households. The Andres Soriano Foundation, is doing preliminary work on a water system that will supply potable water to residents.
Robredo said Agutaya is only one of the 176 cities and municipalities her office has visited and assisted since October 2016 or four months after she took office. She said about P214 million worth of programs and projects have been “mobilized” for these locations.
“This is significant, because this is not government money; this is entirely private funds,” she said, stressing the OVP has one of the lowest budgets in Philippine bureaucracy.
She thanked ANCOP-USA, led by its executive director Roger Santos, for their fundraising and “answering the call of our kababayans who are in dire need of assistance.” Leni and her late husband Jesse Robredo were active members of Couples for Christ.
© The FilAm 2018
