INEQUALITY
IN THE
PHILIPPINES

Racial Discrimination
Written by: Mharen Anne M. Galam

Everybody wants to have equal rights, a right that everyone should acknowledge others from inside and outside. However, all of us encountered and experienced being disliked, hated, judged, or discriminated against by our appearance, clothing, color of our skin, culture, and race. Why do people discriminate against other people? Is it for fun? Lack of attention?There are sorts of discrimination that is often used until today, and these are just a quarter of numerous more types. We have Color discrimination. A bit like the case from over, this can be the foremost common sort of discrimination, that in some cases lead to murders. Keep in mind the case of George Floyd? That is a case of color discrimination. Most people in the Philippines are being criticized because of their dark or tan skin tone because it is believed here that “The whiter skin-toned, the prettier.” and this caused the people to have insecurities and become more conscious. Racism can cause people to have PTSD. A race-based traumatic stress stems from exposure to racist abuse or discrimination. It consumes your sense of self-worth and lead to anxiety, depression, chronic stress, high blood pressure, eating disorder, and even symptoms of PTSD such as hypervigilance, negative thoughts, and mood changes. But some people are resilient and confident. They are not affected by the discrimination of other people.In Asian countries, there are many cases of racial abuse or harrassment and mostly students are the target of it. Students often experience it at school. In the K-12 curriculum, no bullying inside the school. But there are still many cases of harrassment that students experience, and this destroys their mental health. Some schools do not usually teach racism. It is important that schools teach students about societal isses especially youngsters (Kinder) for them to learn and their minds are open about this kind of topic. Just like what everyone said that “Ang mga kabataan ang kinabukasan ng bayan”.Here in the Philippines, we also have Culture Discrimination. I saw an article that there are many of the 110 ethno-linguistic indigenous groups in the Philippines experience discrimination. Although some people do respect our Philippine culture but there are people do not respect it and they make fun of it or mocking them.We can avoid or take action racism by learning to recognize and understand one’s privilege. We can inform or raise awareness on how racism affects the society. We should stop joking about skin tone, appearance, culture, and gender. We can also support other people’s culture so that everyone will know that every race we are all still people. The government should take action and they should impliment a law about forbidding racial discrimination.Racism does not start at people’s color, appearance, or culture; it came from people’s negative thinking to it. No matter who we are, what color we have, what culture we have, we are all people. Society needs peace and equality. We have to treat each other right equally.

Poverty
Written by: Angelo Uriel T. Solamo

We can define poverty as the condition where the basic needs of a family, like food, shelter, clothing, and education are not fulfilled. This is a problem faced not only by the Filipinos but also by the world. Several reasons lead to poverty in any country. Even though there are several solutions to avoid the poverty attack, the lack of proper unity among a country’s residents for following the answers leads to the issues. This is another primary reason why the poverty rate is rapidly rising with each passing day. The lack of education, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, and lack of political instability are some of the causes of poverty. The problem has also been made worse by the recent pandemic causing people to lose jobs and sources of income.Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to controlling it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child, or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. We can also support organizations that actively try to purge poverty. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.As normal Filipino citizens, we can help those in need in simple ways; for example, before being disgusted at someone sleeping in the streets you should think first and give them food and empathy because not everyone is as lucky as you.Poverty is also the primary reason that hinders the country’s economic, social, and political growth. Because of this, we are also affected by poverty in more subtle ways. The government is currently finding ways how to combat this issue. Unemployment is a significant cause of poverty and the government is finding ways how they can give simple jobs to the poverty-stricken people but even this is hard. Another solution is to have education more easily accessible by the masses, this will ensure that future generations are less likely to be poor thus reducing poverty.Helping directly by giving financial aid is also a solution but this might be hard due to how many people are affected by poverty, and there is no guarantee that those kinds of people will spend the money wisely.All in all, poverty will always be part of any country and all we can do is to help those in poverty and try to understand their situation. To help those in need is a Filipino trait and we will always ensure that this trait will prevail, unlike poverty.

Immigration
Written: Wilhelm Aldrich A. Contreras

In a feature published on May 17, the San Francisco Standard revealed that the city’s District Attorney (DA) Chesa Boudin (D) failed to secure any convictions for dealing the uniquely deadly drug fentanyl in 2021, despite the fact that the City by the Bay “is grappling with an increasingly deadly drug overdose epidemic” driven largely by the narcotic. I would say that decline in prosecutions wasn’t for a want of trying, except that the DA isn’t trying — in part because Boudin doesn’t want alien drug traffickers to pay the price for their illicit business.Fentanyl Deaths in San Francisco. As noted, fentanyl is uniquely deadly — two milligrams can kill you (depending on your body weight and tolerance). Worse, as the DEA explains, fentanyl is being mixed with other illicit drugs to increase their potency. Drug users may thus be gambling with the opioid and not even know it.A bipartisan panel of experts recently examined the problem and determined that Mexico is the main source of fentanyl and its analogues today, a change from the past when the drug was primarily mailed into the United States from China.Not surprisingly, the panel concluded, cartels and transnational criminal organizations are the ones who are smuggling the drug from Mexico to the United States.Fentanyl has taken its toll on San Francisco. According to the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in calendar year 2021 there were 641 accidental overdose deaths in San Francisco, nearly three-quarters of which (74 percent or 477 deaths) were attributable in whole or in part to fentanyl.While about half of those deaths were in the Tenderloin, SOMA, and Inner Mission neighborhoods (where open-air drug use and homelessness are common), some 17 percent occurred in upper-scale Nob Hill. One-quarter of the deaths involved the homeless, but 71 percent were of persons with known addresses, while in 4 percent it was unknown whether the victims had fixed addresses.Those deaths were also disproportionately concentrated among African-Americans, who make up 5.21 percent of the population of San Francisco, but accounted for 28 percent of accidental drug overdose deaths.Chesa Boudin. Boudin took office in January 2020, following a stint in the public defender’s office where he “helped launch the first-ever immigration unit”. The Heritage Foundation has described him as “one of several dozen rogue prosecutors elected to public office, thanks in most part to [George] Soros (or his political action committees or wealthy liberal friends)”.I guess you get what you pay for, because as my colleague Dan Cadman explained just over a month into the new DA’s tenure:Boudin's most recent "Eureka!" moment has been to open a unit within his district attorney's office, which serves as the prosecutor for the entire city and county of San Francisco, whose twofold focus will be on 1) "protecting" deportable aliens from the reach of ICE; and 2) "investigating" ICE agents who go about doing their job of finding the alien criminals released by San Francisco police and sheriff's departments in defiance of federal immigration laws.In a September 2021 post examining a proposed and massive amnesty in a Senate reconciliation bill (which could have been passed without Republican votes), I noted that a version of the legislation then being floated by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) had been written in a way to provide “plenty of outs for alien criminals”.One would have allowed “tens of thousands of criminal aliens to go back to court — long after they have been convicted and served their time — and have their crimes re-categorized or their convictions expunged entirely” to avoid the immigration consequences of their actions.As I explained at the time: “Can you seriously see [Boudin’s] office not joining in on every motion to amend and expunge every conviction — regardless of the crime — that would bar an amnesty applicant from benefits?” Little did I know that the DA was skipping that step and simply not charging aliens with drug-dealing crimes to begin with.Fentanyl Prosecutions Plummet — to Zero. The Standard reported that it had reviewed case information from San Francisco Superior Court, which showed Boudin’s office had “secured just three total convictions for ‘possession with intent to sell’ drugs in 2021: two for methamphetamine and one for a case including heroin and cocaine”, even though fentanyl is plainly a problem (and the major factor in overdose deaths) in the city.The outlet contrasted that record with the convictions secured by Boudin’s predecessor as San Francisco DA, George Gascón (the current DA of Los Angeles County, Calif.), who “oversaw over 90 drug-dealing convictions by the DA’s Office in 2018”.The tale told by The Standard gets more interesting yet, because as the outlet explains:Boudin’s office is still obtaining convictions in fentanyl drug sales cases, but the actual convictions are not for the crime of drug dealing. About 80% of the cases in a type of charge category that included fentanyl dealing — 44 in total — involved a defendant ultimately pleading guilty to a crime called “accessory after the fact,” meaning the accused was convicted of helping another person commit a crime. In a handful of cases, people arrested on multiple charges including fentanyl dealing end up being convicted of other serious felonies.Some of these reclassifications of drug-dealing offenses had to do with Boudin’s emphasis on so-called “diversion programs”, in part driven by his interest in reducing rates of incarceration for “lower-level crimes”, as well as an attempt to keep jail populations low during the Covid-19 pandemic.Immigration Status a Factor. “Another big factor” as the Standard describes it, however, “is the DA’s attention to offenders’ immigration status”. Possession with intent to sell under California Health and Safety Code § 11351 is an aggravated felony, subjecting an alien to removability and which will be a bar to most forms of immigration relief.That’s a big issue because, according to The Standard, “a substantial number of drug dealers in the city are Honduran nationals.”I note that California Penal Code § 1016.3(b) requires prosecutors “in the interests of justice” to “consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences in the plea negotiation process as one factor in an effort to reach a just resolution.”Given the fact that immigration is a strictly federal issue, that provision of California law is already an overreach, but even then, the immigration consequences of a drug dealing conviction are simply “one factor” for the local DA to consider.The fact that hundreds of people in San Francisco are dying of fentanyl overdoses, on the other hand, would seem to overcome the adverse immigration consequences of a drug trafficking offense, except in truly minor cases. Further, given the racial disparity in overdose deaths in San Francisco, a “progressive” prosecutor like Boudin should logically be more interested in getting drug dealers off the street.As an aside, I note that the Standard opines that those Honduran traffickers “could face deadly consequences if deported”, but I have no idea how they came to that conclusion.Nothing in the State Department’s 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Honduras even implies deported drug dealers from the United States are singled out for abuse (though it does state that “Organized criminal groups, including local and transnational gangs and narcotics traffickers, were significant perpetrators of violent crimes” there), and as I have previously explained, the homicide rate in Honduras is much lower than in my erstwhile hometown of Baltimore.Boudin Recall. Boudin is facing a recall election today (June 7) and has his hands full keeping his job (the DA is being outspent two-to-one). As CBS News reports, proponents of the recall effort claim that Boudin “isn't prosecuting criminals aggressively and say his approach to executing progressive policies is putting the safety of residents at risk.” The fact that his office had no prosecutions for fentanyl trafficking in 2021 during an overdose epidemic would certainly prove that point.Should Boudin be recalled, Mayor London Breed (D) would appoint his replacement. Breed is no conservative, but her patience with the increase in crime is wearing thin and she has vowed that the city will be “more aggressive with law enforcement”. San Francisco could hardly be less aggressive, which is likely why homicides, gun violence, and aggravated assaults were all up in 2021 compared to 2020.Implications of Boudin’s Policies While some describe U.S. immigration laws as “harsh”, they are actually quite sensible. Aliens in the United States are guests in this country and are expected to comply with our laws in much the same way that I am expected to toe the line when I am the alien, abroad.The grounds of inadmissibility are intended to screen out criminals (which is part of the reason why certain “experts” can claim aliens commit fewer crimes than the native born), and the grounds of deportability are meant to protect the American people (both citizens and lawful immigrants) from the predations of criminal aliens.Although the immigration laws are federal, most crimes are prosecuted at the state and local level. Thus, DHS is dependent on DAs obtaining convictions to start the removal process. In states like California, where the legislature has directed local prosecutors to consider immigration implications in agreeing to plea deals, that federal immigration system starts to break down. Where local DAs go out of their way to charge serious criminal aliens with lesser offenses, the system comes to a halt.Not only does that endanger the local communities our immigration laws are intended to protect, but it also leads to two systems of justice in which, perversely, citizens (including naturalized ones) are treated more harshly than aliens.I suppose Boudin could claim he is eliminating the inequalities in a justice system where aliens get better treatment than citizens by ignoring crimes committed by everybody. That does not make anyone other than the criminals any safer, however, as San Francisco’s fentanyl overdose rate reveals.

Capitalism
Written by:Michael Joseph Lance A. Lagco

Capitalism is an economic and political system in which property, business, and industry are owned by private individuals and not by the state. In today's society people are facing more severe and doubly painful suffering as a result of the Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Millions of people lost their jobs, businesses closed, people were stranded in remote areas, there were delays and delays in class, and many other bad events affecting ordinary Filipino families.In the middle of these circumstances, the long-term degeneration of a "normal" system becomes obvious. From factory "business as usual" that pretends to protect employees to government "business as usual" corruption, inefficiency, and tyranny. As long-term poor Filipinos continue to fall into poverty, health and security concerns grow; the government enacted the Anti-Terrorism Law in July, continues to protect those in power's allies and whims, and insists on diverting public attention away from corruption and bureaucratic robbery to eye-catching programs while piercing the treasury's pocket. Instead of responding to its constitutional mandate to respond to the people’s call, the state is exposing its character as an institutional tool of the ruling monopoly capitalists and their allies who are rescuing and even indulging in wealth in the midst of crisis.In our society and everywhere else, the concept of laissez-faire is limited because of the laws and policies that society has created for the protection and welfare of all. If laissez-faire is followed completely and the government does not intervene, one of the concerns of the people here is the proliferation of illegal activities and the production of products that can damage the values of a society such as slavery and sale of illegal drugs. To prevent this it is necessary to place restrictions on society and government on what is acceptable while not completely stifling market action. These issues can be addressed when those in power think of helping people who are suffering from unemployment because many Filipinos are struggling just to support their families because of the pandemic that is taking place due to the spread and contagious virus. The aid can help Filipinos who are suffering because of people who are corrupt and people who neglect the health of their fellow Filipinos.Under extreme circumstances, the price depends on what the buyer and seller can agree on due to the thrust of supply and demand. This is a situation where the buyer and trader have the ability to decide if they want to have a transaction based on the current price you have presented them a price over which both Parties have no control because they both have no significant influence on the market. Every product we will need has a price if we don’t have a job how do we get what we need nowadays? Strong governments can help other Filipinos who can afford to waste money for their fellow Filipinos who are suffering due to unemployment.Capitalist economy refers to an economy that works on the principle of the free market mechanism. It is also called the laissez faire system. In a capitalist economy, the role of government is very limited. The primary duties of government, as given by Adam Smith, are to maintain law and order in a nation, strengthen national defense, and regulate the money supply. According to Smith, the market system controls various economic functions. However, over time, government responsibilities have increased in an economy especially in today’s era where everyone has to face that we are being oppressed by Covid 19 pandemic so we must help it.We just follow those who lift us up who want us to be safe. I am happy because the Filipinos are the ones who work hard to support their families. Many poor Filipinos also often help people who ask for help. There are also many rich people who try to bring down the Filipinos who are suffering during the pandemic and of course there are also rich people who give almost all their help only to help the fellow elect. We continue to fight the root of the backward growth of society; fight for an alternative system that will promote the people's democratic interests in livelihood, rights, free and quality services. Let us advance the path to genuine land reform, and national industrialization to an independent economy capable of standing in the midst of the crisis caused by the imperialist order. This is the basic content of the national democratic alternative.

LGBTQ Discrimination
Written By: Gray Allen Arizala

Widespread and systematic human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and homosexuality persist in the Philippines. The arrests, harassment, and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Philippines demonstrate the urgent need for the Government of the Philippines to act.Though an Anti-Discrimination bill was first introduced to Congress twelve years, the Philippines does not have Anti-Discrimination legislation. The State also fails to address the overwhelming amount of hate crimes and murders of LGBT individuals in the Philippines and the number of hate crimes against LGBT people in the Philippines is increasing.State-actor violence against LGBT Filipinos is pervasive. Police raids on LGBT venues occur regularly and without warrants. During these raids, police regularly illegally detain, verbally abuse and extort money from clients. Police will also frequently charge LGBT individuals with violating the “Public scandal” provision of the Revised Penal Code which is a broadly worded public morality law discriminatorily applied against the LGBT community. There are glaring instances of discrimination, marginalization and exclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity issues from various legislative bills.The President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, removed sexual orientation as a protected category from a congressional bill on sexual and reproductive health after after
Congress attempted to include it. The Philippines also intends to pass legislation that will make changing one’s first name and sex on a birth certificate illegal for transsexual and intersex individuals. The State has also been responsible for inciting homophobia.In January 2012 during the Philippine National AIDS Council plenary meeting, the Philippine Secretary of Health Enrique Ona stated that “parents should rein in their homosexual children and get them tested” to address the rapid rise of HIV cases in the country; his statements only contributing to a general ignorance and hostility toward LGBT people already pervasive within the country. LGBT persons are entitled to their full rights under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR.) In order to protect access and enjoyment of these rights the Government of the Philippines must take positive steps to repeal discriminatory laws and combat violence targeted at LGBT individuals. There is urgent need for the Committee to take appropriate action to ensure LGBT people can enjoy the rights within the Convention to which they are entitled.

Human Rights
Written By: Nyl Aronn N. Tabuzo

Social health insurance is a form of financing strategy when working towards equitable healthcare financing. The Philippines’ rapid economic growth has enabled advancements in healthcare in recent years; however, the health system remains fragmented. Large disparities in access to healthcare services remain, with differences observed among socio-economic groups, geographical regions, and rural/urban residences.Healthcare need is partly proxied by self-reported illness across socio-economic groups, which is reported as an illness or symptom in the previous 30 days in household surveys. In 2011, the Philippine government launched a UHC strategy to improve the overall health system and provide the poor with protection from financial risks. To attain health equity, efforts must be directed to assess the inequality in health and use of healthcare services of the vulnerable population, and socio-economic inequalities are reported through the prevalence of morbidities and access to healthcare services. Over the years, we are still in need of debt and justice for what the country is needed to assess the right resources and freedom to work on things that are necessary for people to have a better life and commitment to society. It is where the country is at its lowest because of these changes in the economic issues.The Philippines is in an urgent situation where the necessities for adequate healthcare are at risk and shortage of support and hospitalizations for patients. “Over a year into the pandemic, the Philippine government’s continued failure to ensure an adequate response is a serious human rights issue,” said Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director. “The authorities must provide healthcare without discrimination using their maximum available resources.” Specific measures to protect those most affected, including health workers and those most at-risk, must be taken without further delay. Furthermore, the government must stop attacking human rights defenders and activists, a practice that only makes a dire situation worse.Even before the pandemic, there were still many things that had many issues for Filipinos regarding medical finances that were difficult to do because of the high price coverage. Discrimination holds its name when it comes to a different class in a society where people were much more privileged than others, the poor are unable to acquire necessary treatment according to their needs while the rich had no problem at all. Not only that, people of older adults with lower income may also be explained by a decreased means of affording healthcare, leading to an inability to respond to healthcare needs, in contrast to richer individuals with the ability to purchase healthcare servicesThis all shows many things that hospitals do with Filipinos in certain need of medical attention:
- Patients have to pay before getting admitted to the hospital despite any minor or severe conditions
- They only let them in because they have a high amount of money to get admitted
- Billings are too high that no normal paid individuals can cover all of it
- Inequality between society by their status and appearance
- Not valid for low income and economic supportDespite all problems with the people, the workers have a general risk in their own health and medical conditions. “In any public health crisis, the safety and well-being of every health worker are all the more paramount,” said Emerlynne Gil. “The government must immediately provide them with adequate and sufficient protective equipment, as well as just terms and conditions so they can carry out their vital work.” Many health workers have yet to receive their legally mandated allowances. These include special risk allowance and hazard pay, as well as allowances for food, transportation, and accommodation and benefits since September 2020, as well as their annual performance-based bonus since 2018. They also expressed concern about the lack of sufficient healthcare workers, as nurses and nurse aides are placed under unmanageable pressures.Many groups and individuals are struggling for better healthcare and in need of rights to be helped and supported in all equity, for workers, and for patients. And as a Filipino, there are a lot of tedious situations dealing with it on a daily basis. People die, and people lost many things and require much government support for equal rights in health. All individuals should gain equitable access to healthcare about the need to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). While the rich have all the needed requirements to provide themselves with enough healthcare.

Gender Inequality
Written By: Marc Luis A. Pangilin

We all know that gender Inequality exist and that we somehow experienced it either in our home, school, work, etc. Gender inequality is when one sex or gender is routinely privileged or prioritized over another due to discrimination based on sex or gender.Gender equality is a fundamental human right, and discrimination based on gender is a violation of that right. I as a Man myself has also experienced this kind inequality where we are put in a situation where we have to act like a man due to being one, we are force to be strong and have a strong front when we are also human that also have feelings and not machine that only knows how to function.Same with women, they are force to act against their will, they are force to act as a woman of society when they also have their own life, their own way, and their own choices.This happen due to how the society set their standards on how men and women should act, we made this standard and now many are force and suffering due to it some try to escape the system but only little are able to escape it, those people that were unable to escape took their own lives and some became an empty shell that goes by the flow of time that are taking their dreams and hopes away.Modern life has also proved that Gender Inequality still exist, till now we are still doing the same mistake that our past people have done, we are discriminating people that are applying for jobs because they’re a woman or a man, some even make gossips about successful women that damages their reputation and some opportunities go away due to gossips that spread that don’t have any proof whatsoever to be proven true.For men they are highly likely to be hired than women, truth be told women are treated poorly in the working industry as they are always look down upon and always need to prove their worth while men in the other hand are always look upon just because they are men cause men are believe to be more sufficient, better, and stronger in terms of work, of course this type of situation doesn’t happen all the time, they are even some companies that value women more than men, there are also some companies that value them the same, working on equal grounds doesn’t only give both genders the opportunity to rise, it also gives the workplace a peaceful environment where they aren’t people who are angry with each other and most likely to help one another, we seek to have a place all around the world where we aren’t judge by our gender and are respected as a someone who deserves it.As for the last part, we are hoping that this system would be forgotten as we are all humans that have our own ways and own paths to take, we are not made to be the same hence why we need to get rid of this system that make people act like robots that function the same, it’s a must to move on and forget about this standard so that we could see faces that are joyful and content.