Children in the Philippines dream of a life and future of development, well-being, joy, security, and dignity for their communities.
But these dreams are crushed by the realities of Philippine society under the Marcos Jr administration. The economic policy of the Philippine government continues to prioritize foreign profit and plunder of rural communities, instead of genuine development and improving conditions for the majority of Filipinos.
A majority of the almost 40 million children in the Philippines live in rural areas.
They and their families face issues of landlessness, poverty, hunger, and threats to their livelihood from foreign mining projects. Beyond these economic issues, children also become victim to military attacks on communities resisting plunder. The chronic underdevelopment in the countryside, and rapid expansion of landgrabbing at the hands of landlords and foreign companies, snatch away rural children’s dreams of economic self-sufficiency and peace.
Under Marcos Jr, education remains in crisis. 5,000 schools are without electricity. Almost half of public schools lack principals. 10,000 schools lack access to clean water. The majority of Filipino children have difficulty reading or are considered functionally illiterate. Educational materials remain in the control of foreign firms, promoting English and other curricula to prepare students to work overseas. The dream of an effective education to improve their community is snatched away before their first day of classes because of chronic underfunding and privatization.
Children of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are separated at young ages from one or both of their parents. They grow up not knowing them, or only seeing them when they can get enough data to call. Many parents report their young children hiding from them when they return from their contracts, not recognizing them. The Marcos Jr administration encourages this family separation of OFWs as it relies more and more on their remittances for debt financing and funding of his huge ghost projects and military budgets.
The nightmare of Marcos Jr is in sharp contrast with the hopes and dreams of Filipino children, who dream of breaking free from this never-ending nightmare of poverty, plunder, and militarization.
