The Great Divide

I had been doing a lot of research about the Philippines for my Global Marketing class lately. For our final paper, we were asked to research about the ways marketing is being done at a country of your choice. I obviously picked my country and it was shocking to discover many different facts about the current state of the Filipino poor.

According to a recent article from Xinhua News Agency, the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila is 325 pesos -- less than half of the estimated daily cost of living for a family of six in the capital region, which is 654.96 pesos (15.59 U.S. dollars) a day.

Filipinos who live below poverty line live on an average of Php 35/day, or $0.68 US cents. And according to an independent research organization, 83% of Filipinos live below poverty line. That's 8 out of 10 Filipinos who are living off of much less than how much you tip the bartender in the Meatpacking district who prepared your martini in one night!

Not that I am ignorant about how poor many of my fellowmen are, but it is just shocking to see the real numbers in your face. It is crazy how the great divide between the rich and poor is too evident in this world, and it is upsetting to see how the spoiled little rich kids are not aware of that.

You just thank God you are lucky, that you ended up with a life better than most of your fellowmen. And you join nonprofit organizations -- and make one life a little better every single day. ;-)