Food, education, health care crises

Three major crises are facing the Philippines today – a food shortage, poor quality education and rising health care cost.

The food shortage is 25 percent of demand; a quarter of the Filipino’s food needs cannot be met, by domestic production nor by imports.

After the Ukraine war, food prices rose to their highest in a century, leading to near record high inflation rates which, in turn, triggered high interest rates.

A food shortage means malnutrition and stunted growth.

“The persistence of high levels of undernutrition, despite decades of economic growth and poverty reduction, represents a staggering, yet avoidable, loss of human and economic potential. The economic burden associated with undernutrition in the Philippines was an estimated $4.4 billion in 2015, which translates to 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP,” said a World Bank report in December 2022.

“In 2019, 29 percent of children younger than five years old were reported to be suffering from stunting,” says the bank. “The Philippines is ranked fifth among countries in the East Asia and Pacific region with the highest prevalence of stunting, and it is among the 10 countries globally with the highest number of stunted children.”

Stunted growth means mass stupidity. Our young Filipinos are barely educated, if you can call it that. Our teeners (15 year-olds) cannot read, cannot write and cannot count beyond the number 20. They also cannot think creatively.

In 2022, Filipino teeners ranked third lowest in the world in overall tests conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). In intelligence, Filipinos were ranked 77th out of every 80 teeners in the world, the third most stupid. The 15-year-olds were the fourth worst in tests results for Math and Reading, and the second worst in Science.

Thankfully, Vice President Sara Duterte has resigned as secretary of education, the Cabinet department with the highest budgetary allocation. She had the wrong priorities in the wrong job. She was incompetent.

President Marcos Jr. is now shopping around for a new education secretary. A few names are bandied about, including Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Milwida Guevara, the president of Synergeia Foundation whose mission is to educate every child of elementary school age; J. Prospero de Vera III, chair of the Commission on Higher Education and even former vice president Leonor Robredo.

Win Gatchalian says he cannot take the job because his brother is already the social welfare secretary. Sonny Angara seems interested but he says he hasn’t been offered the job. Sonny has tremendous gravitas – basic education at Xavier School, bachelor of science in international relations, with honors, from London School of Economics; law degree from the University of the Philippines and master of laws, at Harvard. He was also a law professor.

Senator since 2013, Sonny may be getting bored in the 24-member Senate where there are at least six movie actors, entertainers or broadcasters.  Education and educational reform are in the Angara genes.

Sonny’s dad, the late Edgardo Javier Angara, a senator for 23 years, was UP president (1981-1987). Ed was chairman of the Congressional Commission on Education from 1990 to 1991 and authored laws that created of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The idea of taking away higher education and technical education from the Department of Education was to enable DepEd to focus on its main concern – basic education. It failed. The result is among the most stupid young people on earth.

Ed authored the Free High School Act to assure secondary education even for the poorest. Again that failed. The result is the most stupid young people on earth.

So where did the government go wrong? President Marcos Jr. says he is looking for a DepEd secretary who can raise the test scores of Filipino students globally. Perhaps, Sonny can find the answers?

Meanwhile, quality, accessible and equitable health care for Filipinos remains a pipe dream. Tuberculosis is prevalent. Infectious diseases break out often, such as measles, dengue and zoonotic diseases. Health care is costly despite government’s attempt to provide universal health care, forcing millions to spend for medicine and health care the money that otherwise should buy adequate food. Majority of Filipinos die without seeing a doctor in their lifetime.

First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos is one non-government person who has taken health care for the poor with a passion. She has rolled out so far 83 “Lab for All” mobile hospitals in key provinces.

These so-called mobile primary health care vans come complete with medical equipment like x-ray, ultrasound, hematology analyzer, binocular microscope, clinical centrifuge, ophthalmoscopes and reagent refs, as well as chemistry analyzer, hematocrit centrifuge, handheld electrolyte analyzer, examination light, stethoscopes, telemedicine with backpacks and telemedicine peripherals for complete and reliable diagnosis and laboratory tests.

Last Sunday, June 30, I was invited to a Konsyerto sa Palasyo to honor the nation’s health care workers, hosted by President and Mrs. Marcos Jr. at the covered court of the Malacañang Palace grounds.

The two-hour concert featured budding and prominent Filipino artists, including the Jason Narciso and Arjohn Gilbert Ayta brothers, pole artist Kristel de Catalina, recording artists/theater actor Garrett Bolden, musician and content creator Justin Taller, singer Brenan Espartinez, singers Alyn Magadia and Lara Maigue, new talent Christel Galacan, the Philippine Dance Sport Federation and Martin Nievera.

Among those honored with video footages were: royalty nurse Charito Romano in the UK, caregiver Camille Jesalva in Israel, Dr. Jose Antonio Carreon, chief of clinics; Lt. Col. Emiia Tolentino, a chief nurse; Dr. Sara Jane Marquez, nurse Carolina Dalena, Dr. Jeoffrey Mambucon, a municipal health officer in Davao del Norte and Dr. Irma Antonio Pilar, an endocrine specialist.

Congrats First Lady Liza for your passion to provide health care to the poor.

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