one big file - Social Watch

Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report
Our alternative Philippine report is about the
growing social insecurity, a theme which captures both
the global theme of the Social Watch Report 2007 and
our national campaign to challenge the GMA regime’s
claims about growth and the resulting improvement in
the quality of life of Filipinos.
This report starts from the perspective of social
security, meaning enjoyment of human rights and
enlargement of freedoms consistent with the Millennium
Declaration.
Social security means securing food, jobs and
livelihoods, health, education, shelter, the wellbeing
of women and children, the young and the old, the
rights of indigenous peoples and minority populations,
the health of our environment, and peace and
development for all.
The attainment of all the MDGs—a relatively
low bar for a middle income country like the Philippines—simply
sets a basic minimum for the attainment
of such idea of social security.
Where there’s progress
The proportion of people living in extreme
poverty, referring to individuals whose incomes cannot
support a recommended minimum food basket,
shows a decrease from the 1991 baseline figure of
24.3 percent to 13.5 percent in 2003. Target indicators
for household and population poverty incidence
also indicate visible improvements. At these rates of
decline in poverty incidence, the 2015 targets are
expected to be met.
The percentages may be improving but the magnitudes
are worrisome. The number of poor Filipinos,
given the projected population of 102 million by 2015,
are by any measure simply huge.
The net enrollment rate (NER) for girls in elementary
education in school year (SY) 2005-06 was
85.4 percent, exceeding that of boys, which was 83.6
percent. The relative sizes of these enrolment rates
by sex were maintained at the secondary level, 63.5
percent for females versus 53.7 percent for males.
Achievement rates by sex generally favor girls. But
this is gender parity alongside declining participation
and cohort survival.
Gains have been made in reducing infant deaths
per 1,000 live births. This measure of infant mortality
rate showed a decline from 57 to 24 deaths between
1990 and 2006.
The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)
has been kept below the national target of one percent
of the population. But we know HIV/AIDS statistics
can be very tricky.
Some improvement is noted in environmental
protection. The number of protected areas under
the National Integrated Protected Area System has
expanded from 83 proclaimed areas in 2000 to 101
in 2005. But this could simply mean expansion
by proclamation, considering that the most recent
nationwide forestry assessment (2003) has pointed
to continuing deforestation and decline in forest
quality.
Since entering the WTO in 1995 the Philippines
has become one of the most open economies in the
world, unilaterally breaking down trade barriers beyond
what’s expected. Government claims this as a great
achievement despite absence of a real, broad-based
review. But try asking workers, small farmers, small
and medium enterprises, various sectors of industry
and they will tell you a different and sad story of falling
incomes, lost livelihoods, increasing joblessness,
and bankruptcies.
Where it’s falling short
Where the country is admittedly falling short is
what matters most to the poor and excluded millions.
And where it’s supposed to be making progress the
claims are highly questionable.
Access to primary education appeared to remain
high at 84.4 percent in schoolyear 2005-2006. However,
this represented a decline from the 2000 level of
96.8 percent, thereby setting back the 2015 target of
universal access.
The decline in number of maternal deaths per
100,000 live births has slowed down, from 209 deaths
in 1993 to 162 deaths in 2006. At this rate, it is unlikely
that the 2015 target of 52 deaths in the maternal
mortality ratio (MMR) will be met.
Access to reproductive health care improved at a
modest rate for currently married women aged 15-49,
from 49 percent in 2001 to 50.6 percent in 2006. At
this rate, the 2015 target of 100 percent access is difficult
to achieve.
Table 1 is a detailed presentation of goals and
targets, progress made so far, and a probability forecast
of attaining the 2015 target commitments.
S O C I A L W A T C H P H I L I P P I N E S