Cons of Globalization in the Philippine Economy
By: Jazmene Fajilago 10 SDS
I. Introduction
"I recognize that globalization has helped many people rise out of poverty, but it has
also damned many others to starve to death. It is true that global wealth is growing in
absolute terms, but inequalities have also grown and new poverty arisen." ~ Pope
Francis
The Economy of the Philippines is the world's 36th largest economy by nominal GDP according
to the 2019 estimate of the International Monetary Fund's statistics, it is the 13th largest
economy in Asia, and the 3rd largest economy in the ASEAN after Indonesia and Thailand
The Philippines is a country of ups and downs of conspicuous consumption of devastating
poverty, hunger and suffering. The economy is basically agricultural, with rice, corn, and kamote
(sweet potatoes) the staple food crops. Key cash crops include coconuts, fruits and vegetables,
sugar, tobacco, and abaca (the famous "Manila hemp" used for rope making). In aggregate,
about two-thirds of Filipinos continue to depend on the agricultural sector. The Philippines is rich
in natural resources, as reflected in the fact that foreign exchange earnings have derived largely
from export of primary commodities. The export of fruits and vegetables, especially pineapple
products and bananas, plays a key economic role every year.
Among the minerals that the Philippines produces are copper, gold, nickel, chromium, iron, and
manganese. Mining will continue to be important in the future, particularly copper, nickel,
chromite, and iron. It is estimated that 90% of the country's mineral resources are unsurveyed
and undeveloped. However, the costs are high according to the international standards and
many gold mines and other operations are not economically at its best.
Globalization offers essential opportunities for global developments but it is not progressing in
an evenly pace. Some countries have adapted to globalization and it is participating into the
global economy faster than other countries are. This is because countries with globalization
some countries have been able to integrate and are growing faster and reducing poverty.
However, the effectiveness of globalization in developing countries is widely active because
globalization helps give opportunities in such countries in order to establish stability especially in
the economy, trade, politics, society, labor, technology and to reduce poverty level. .
Although, there are benefits or advantages on having globalization in the Philippine Economy,
such as an increase in trade, job opportunities, innovative ideas and allows free movement of
labor and whatsoever, there are still disadvantages that consumers and owners that tend to
disregard. Globalization in the Philippine Economy have their cons that can affect the
sustainability and effectiveness of our economic state.
II. Body Paragraphs
First, multinational corporations from other countries are taking over that will lead to local
companies being troubled with the amount of profit that they will be receiving on a day to day
basis and they will be forced to lose their jobs that leaves them unable to work. As well as loss
of industries and economic groups will occur because of it. Therefore, Filipinos working
overseas numbered more than three million - about 10 percent of the labor force. The total
number of overseas Filipinos may be as high as eight million, according to the government.
Consumers always look forward to lower prices of products for them to use and save their
money wisely. In that case, when there are chances that our local products have high prices on
them, people will automatically buy what is affordable and sufficient to use at the same time that
is not being produced locally but instead imported. They are likened to have products with better
quality and a whole variety of them. It is said that consumers profit from globalization that make
the products cheaper but why is that Filipino consumers buy what is preferential for them which
is mostly imported. Most of our products are being supplied by this country which is, China. It is
very clear that China had a lot in store for us to choose from and give our money to them like
the products that we use that we see being sold everywhere, The problem is we don’t make use
of our agricultural benefits that well. We are focused on what we don’t have and that is why we
are ahead of other countries such as China, Indonesia, India, Thailand and other more
countries. And the more we invest our money to other countries’ companies, the more our local
products will remain ignored.
Second, the Philippines is still corrupt and still faces economic and political problems, therefore,
the nation and people are not trusting the process of globalization. The Filipinos mostly rely on
its leaders because it’s the leaders whom the society believes and trust in because they know
that the leaders can make the Philippine society better and much more developed or
modernized. Therefore, globalization has to take place within the country in order to make such
changes happen. Due to the process of globalization in the Philippines, poverty level has been
increasing. There are over 80 million people living in the whole of Philippines about 60 percent
of the population lives in poverty. It is claimed that the Globalization promotes greater
competition but with this example, it contradicts. The world economic globalization affects nearly
every person, but the process of globalization is a challenge to indigenous peoples. In most
countries, native peoples have little voice within the government, and their owned lands are
taken away by corporations. Indigenous farmers typically farm small plots and sell their crops
locally; their farms do not scale up to the size and technology necessary for export. The farmers
in the Philippines are suffering and this is due their competitiveness in selling crops to the
market is being eroded by foreign imports. In fact, vegetable prices in the Philippines are high.
Consumers in non-producing areas pay 50-100% more than what farmers usually receive.
Farmers receive 28% more than wholesale prices in surrounding countries. These results are
why vegetables are smuggled in the nation for vegetables have become a form of contraband.
These are the problems with developing countries is that they are very corrupt politically and
economically but it is not the fault of globalization but it’s the whole nation is at fault.
And lastly, the Philippine economic growth is at risk because of overpopulation which the root
cause is teenage pregnancy because they lack of proper sex education. In a Rappler Talk on
Wednesday, October 23, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said that
implementation of family planning programs need to be intensified if the government wants to
bring down poverty incidence to just 14% by 2022. (If we can lessen the number of children of
poorer Filipinos, that in itself will lower poverty incidence) The Commission on Population and
Development (PopCom) earlier reported that there are about 1.2 million children having children
every year. Around 30,000 of these young mothers have experienced repeated pregnancies.
For PopCom, the situation is so severe that it called on President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an
executive order declaring adolescent pregnancy a national emergency. PopCom estimated that
P33 billion is lost due to teenage pregnancies every year. Philippine poverty incidence is at
21.6% as of 2017 and 21% as of the 1st semester of 2018. With these estimations, we can
conclude that overpopulation can create more issues about the economy of the Philippines
which should be taken seriously and actively because overpopulation can cause great poverty.
Others may say or claim that Globalization can give opportunities to people who are jobless or
allows free movement of labor but how can we make sure that they will do their jobs well if they
didn’t get the chance to have good education. This results to having human trafficking, forced
labour and other related issues. Providing them all of their needs will add up to the cost and we
will just make the whole thing worse and complicated because we let them be dependent on
other people.
III. Conclusion
Globalization has disadvantages when it comes to the economic growth of the Philippines but it
can make the Philippines into a better nation if the Philippine leaders make their economy more
advance through global trading and allowing more foreign investors to the help boost the
economy. And by accomplishing those goals, the Philippines should be able to reduce the
poverty level as well as increase labor force for job opportunities for those that are in need for a
living. However, since the poverty level is still increasing, most Filipinos has managed to find
work overseas and they have managed to seek better living than in the Philippines. The most
effective factor in the Philippines is education. The society’s mentality is to be educated and it’s
with education that people in the nation see their opportunity for a better life in the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Philippines
https://hubpages.com/politics/Globalization-in-the-Philippines
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-countries-producing-the-most-rice-in-the-world.html
https://www.rappler.com/business/243184-pernia-says-teenage-pregnancy-dragging-economic-
growth
