Challenges

Environmental destruction

Palawan is a spectacularly beautiful island of lush forests, rugged mountains, beautiful beaches and stunning coral reefs. It is threatened by rapid population growth, destructive farming practices such as slash and burn, and over-fishing.

Global economic crisis

Many believe that the Global Financial Crisis that began in 2008 is just one step in a much larger economic crisis. Key factors include: the global credit bubble, the fractional reserve banking system, private banking systems being many times the wealth of their host governments, the sovereign debt bubble, the assumption of exponential growth. Combine this with peak oil, climate change, global food security and water security issues and we are looking at a very uncertain future. We are likely to see increasing poverty, hardship and conflict as well as increasing extreme weather events. Business as usual will only speed us over the cliff. We need a new direction.

Loss of culture – Coca Cola Culture

Global branding and global culture is expanding at the cost of unique local cultures and value systems. Whilst global companies such as Winston Cigarettes and Coca Cola sponsor public events in Roxas and can be bought in any local shop, Mr Doughnuts has set up an outlet in downtown Roxas and every corner has a hamburger shop. Young people watch MTV and play computer games, if they can afford it. Traditional customs and practices are being left behind in favour of a global brand. As Philippinos, we are working harder to earn more to buy more things and in the process losing our time, our connection with each other, the earth and our own culture.

Poverty indicators in Palawan

According to Palawan’s 2005 Community Based Monitoring System survey: In Palawan, 58% of households were living below the poverty threshold. 42% of households had insufficient income to satisfy their nutritional requirements. 9% of children aged 0-5 are malnourished. 40% of households did not have access to safe drinking water, 57% did not have access to sanitary toilet facilities. 25% of children aged 6-12 were not attending elementary school while 44% of children 13-16 years old were not attending high school. In Roxas itself, unemployment was 29% and 10% of residents lived in makeshift dwellings. Figures for different parts of Palawan vary significantly and so unique responses are required for each locale.

Chemical based farming is bad for health and increases poverty

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hybrid seeds and poor health

Some of the farm chemicals in widespread use in the Philippines have been banned in most Western countries. They are harmful to farmers, their neighbours, and consumers, particularly children. As time goes on, more chemicals are shown to be harmful. Regardless, studies have shown that non-organic fruit and vegetables are consistently less nutritious than their organic counterparts.

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hybrid seeds and poverty

In India, up to 10,000 small farmers kill themselves each year out of despair at their growing personal debt. but Sold the dream of bumper crops, millions of Indian farmers are in debt slavery to the companies selling them chemical fertilizers, pesticides and hybrid seeds. Farmers reap short-term productivity gains but long-term losses and end up in a downward spiral of increasing external inputs. Costs spiral up with the loss of traditional cost-free methods of seed saving, composting and pest control. Although we could not find statistics for the Philippines, the same factors are at play.

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