The document summarizes several social issues that contribute to injustice and inequity in the Philippines. It notes that over 74.7% of the population is considered lower class while only 0.1% are upper class. The middle class of 25.2% are heavily taxed. Other issues discussed include inaccessibility of healthcare, high rates of poverty (26.14 million live below poverty line), lack of access to education, discrimination such as against indigenous groups, unemployment, corruption, and economic challenges such as reliance on rice imports. The document argues these issues trample human dignity and that cooperatives can help address social injustice by providing for social, economic, and cultural needs of members through equitable contributions and sharing of risks and benefits

1. Social and Economic
Standards
for Cooperatives
Social Issues: Part 1
Josefina B. Bitonio,DPA
IGPS – LNU
Dagupan City

2. CDA Mandate
• Promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as
instruments of equity, social justice and economic
development in fulfillment of the mandate in section
15, Article XII of the Constitution.
Equity
Social
Justice
Eco
Devt

3. Social Inequity
According to a study conducted by former Secretary General Romulo Virola (2015) of
the National Statistical Coordination Board, over 74.7% of the population comprise the
lower class, while 0.1% families constitute the upper class, the remaining 25.2% fall
within the “middle class” or the 4.7M families with 5 members. They are the group who
is heavily taxed in the Philippines.
What are the examples of social
inequality in the Philippines?
• Yet inequality remains high: the top 1
percent of earners together capture 17
percent of national income, with only 14
percent being shared by the bottom 50
percent. With an income Gini coefficient of
42.3 percent in 2018, the Philippines had
one of the highest rates of income
inequality in East Asia
AlDub and Philippine Tax
Reform - My Finance MD

4. What is the Tax Implication?
• The 74.7% (LOWER CLASS) of the population, which
includes the minimum wage earners that does not need to pay
income tax at all.
• The 0.1% (UPPER CLASS) of the population has gained
wealth from dividends or stock options. They have holding
companies that enjoy bigger tax deductions than individual
paying taxes.
Who is left now?
• The 25.2% (MIDDLE CLASS) of the population. If we say
middle class, they are families that are earning P328,000 to P4
M per year. The heaviest taxed group.

5. Social Injustice
1) The health-care system, and its
inaccessibility, is one of the biggest
challenges its citizens face. Access
to health care requires money. If
you do not have money, you just
have to suffer or simply choose to
die. It is painful to know that dying
is even in the roster of options.
• Feeling helpless and hopeless.
Medical bills and medical expenses
have been very expensive and are
way beyond our means to support
9.2 M
Filipinos 60 years of age and older comprised 8.5
percent of the population, or 9.2 million (PSA, 2020)

6. 2) Poverty
The First Semester 2021 poverty incidence among
population, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose per
capita income is not sufficient to meet their basic food and
non-food needs, was estimated at 23.7 percent. This
translates to 26.14 million Filipinos who lived below the
poverty threshold estimated at PhP 12,082, on the
average, for a family of five per month in the first semester
of 2021. On the other hand, subsistence incidence among
Filipinos, or the proportion of Filipinos whose income is
not enough to meet even the basic food needs, was
registered at 9.9 percent or about 10.94 million Filipinos in
the first semester of 2021. On the average, the monthly
food threshold for a family of five for the same period was
estimated at PhP 8,393
23.7
9.9
P 12,082
21.1
8.5
P 8,393
2018 2021

7. • The Philippines’ Department of Education,
Culture and Sports’ mission is to provide quality
basic education that is equitably accessible to
all.” And yet, CNN Philippines reported not too
long ago that six in ten families in 2016 and five
in ten families in 2017 lacked access to basic
education.
• There is a huge disparity among different social
groups in educational achievement, as there
would be in most countries. The wealthy have
better access to education than the poor. And
since around 25% of the population live below
the poverty line, many Filipinos, while being
literate, find it hard to get ahead in life. – which
leads us to the last condition contributing to the
orphan crisis in the Philippines.
3) Lack of Education

8. Cont.
Learning poverty | The Manila Times
January 29, 2023
THE recently released report on education by the World Bank (with
Unicef, FCDO, USAid, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)
could hardly show worse results for the Philippines. According to the
data gathered, 90.9 percent of Filipino children aged 10 appear to be in
a situation of learning poverty, while 90.4 percent are classified as
suffering from learning deprivation. Additionally, 5 percent of Filipino
children at that age are still unschooled.
Mojarro (2023) opined the learning crisis comes from at least two
decades of mismanagement. The conclusions of the report highlight
that without urgent action, the countries affected face learning and
human capital catastrophe and the future of those children may be at
risk. The report states that "there is a narrow window to act decisively to
recover and accelerate learning" and "this will require firm political
commitment and implementation of evidence-based approaches
for rapid impact." The bad news for the Philippines is that the process
of making decisions on national education policies is not in the hands of
teachers or experts in education, but would depend on politicians

9. The Rural Poverty Portal reports that half of the poor in the Philippines live in
rural areas. The poorest of the poor are the indigenous, landless laborers,
fishermen, small farmers, mountain folk and women.

10. As of 2022,
$3.20 per day

11. 4) Discrimination and Gender Inequality
• Discrimination stifles development
opportunities for workers, indigenous
and tribal peoples, women, children,
people with disabilities, workers with
HIV/AIDS, and other socially isolated
sectors of society.
• Indigenous peoples faced historical
discrimination and marginalization.
Most indigenous communities,
particularly in remote areas, do not
benefit from the fruits of
development.

12. 2023

13. 6) Unemployment

14. Corruption
Widespread corruption in Filipino politics and
business prevents social mobility and growth.
Power is concentrated among influential families
and connected individuals, offering the poor truly
little chance to better themselves. The Rural
Poverty Portal reports that half of the poor in the
Philippines live in rural areas. The poorest of the
poor are the indigenous, landless laborers,
fishermen, small farmers, mountain folk and
women. Deforestation, depleted fisheries and
unproductive farmland are major problems for
these people. Illiteracy and lack of educational
opportunities are also critical issues.

15. Economic Development

16. Not so fun fact
• Expected to import
2.9 million metric
tons
• The Philippines
IMPORTS much of its
rice. Poor rice
farmers can’t catch a
break.
Why is the Philippines the Largest Rice Importer in
Asia?
The Philippines faces major constraints to rice production due to
climate change, population growth, high production cost and decline in
land area.

17. • The data reveal that social injustice and inequity, and how it
tramples upon our dignity and humanity.
Poverty, deprivation of basic
services, lack of education,
health care system,
population growth,
unemployment and
underemployment, street
children, vices, crime, graft
and corruption, drug
dependency, rapid
population growth,
environmental degradation,
etc. These are some other
pressing social issues and
are among the many
problems that continue to
batter majority of the
Filipinos.
The Nature of Social Problem

18. Social Justice Panlipunang katarungan
Social Responsibility Projects?

19. From Social Injustice, inequality, inequity
(imbalance) to instrument of equity, social
Justice, economic development
ART. 3.RA 9520. General Concepts. – A cooperative is an
autonomous and duly registered association of persons, with a
common bond of interest, who have voluntarily joined together
to achieve their social, economic, and cultural needs
and aspirations by making equitable contributions to the
capital required, patronizing their products and services and
accepting a fair share of the risks and benefits of the
undertaking in accordance with universally accepted
cooperative principles.