Working from this BBC story on Philippine poverty, Deebeedee posts a bunch of his own photos showing the stark contrast between rich and poor on his recent visit to the Philippines. It’s a sad and shocking juxtaposition: shanty towns beside mansions, squatters beside business centers.
We Filipinos, unfortunately, have grown rather jaded to it all. Poor, ragged children begging at city street corners are not uncommon, and the averted eyes and nonchalant “nothing-for-you” double knock on the window are part of a learned daily routine for most in our social stratum. It’s a huge problem which grows with the population; the country gets poorer and hungrier everyday, and it’s not something you can fix by just voting in a better president or switching to a parliamentary form of government.