April 14, 2022 3:15 PM ET
Written by: Lunas GHN Volunteer Researcher
Illness in the Philippines is a multifaceted issue with no easy fix. Some of the most common and deadly illnesses include heart disease, hypertensive disease, diabetes, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases, many of which are not transmissible and are instead caused by a person's environment and conditions. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has recently been in the spotlight for its rapid spread in the Philippines and the government’s poor response, the causes of these chronic, non-transmissible diseases are more indicative of an underlying issue: the Philippines government does not prioritize health and healthcare.
The Cause of Diseases:
The primary cause of death by disease in the Philippines is heart disease, followed closely by other related diseases such as vascular diseases and diabetes. These illnesses are largely due to poor diets and malnutrition caused by food shortage and a lack of necessary nutrients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, food shortages and food insecurity have only gotten worse.
Malnutrition
The most fatal illnesses in the Philippines are due to poor nutrition. Even though nearly 10.9 million Filipinos work in the agriculture industry, many people are unable to access the food grown in the Philippines. This problem is especially prevalent in Mindanao, which has some of the poorest and most food insecure provinces in the country, despite the fact that one-third of the land in Mindanao is used for agriculture. There are several reasons for the widespread malnutrition, which were broken down by Bella Suansing of Borgen magazine into 3 categories.
The first category is food availability, which refers to the amount of food available throughout the country. There is so little food available for reasons including that most food produced in the Philippines is exported to industrialized countries by agri-business and plantation owners to increase their profits. Additionally, natural disasters such as floods, drought and devastating typhoons, and a lack of easily traversable roads also make it extremely difficult for farmers to move their harvest to the market.
Second, food utilization, or the types of foods that are regularly consumed. In the Philippines, non-nutritious food is the cheapest and most accessible source of food for most people, while many vegetables and fruits are harder to come by, especially for impoverished Filipinos.
Third and finally, food accessibility describes how easy it is for a person to acquire food. Again, natural disasters affect food utilization as they may shut down roads or workplaces, making transportation and purchase more difficult. However, the largest contributing factor to food inaccessibility is income, or the lack thereof. Not only is it difficult to find work, nearly 1 in 3 households cited inadequate income as the reason for food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened food insecurity in the Philippines, as it has forced people out of work, further limiting income and food accessibility.
COVID-19 & Malnutrition
Quarantine has made the lives of the people in the Philippines precarious. Mindanao was hit especially hard by COVID-19, again due to the widespread poverty in the region. Due to one of the most strict lockdowns in the world, many Filipinos lost their jobs. Those caught violating quarantine restrictions were punished severely, ranging from major fines to detention as long as six months, further limiting their ability to work and provide for themselves and their families. At its worst, in April of 2020, unemployment hit 17.6%. Recently, the number dropped to just 7.1%, though the quality of the jobs is suspect as many of the new hires are for elementary positions. However, during the peak of the pandemic, when unemployment was highest, many families had to rely on food banks, which were quickly overrun. Since the food banks often did not have enough to meet everyone’s needs, hunger continued to run rampant throughout the Philippines. According to one community kitchen organizer, many people were only able to eat a single meal a day. Government support was minimal as well, distributing some food and handouts of around 4,000 pesos or 80 USD, a sum not nearly enough for families to survive on.
What can be done?
While there are many issues that plague the Philippines, people are mobilizing to meet the vast need for better nutrition. Grassroots efforts within the community to help provide food for everyone are necessary and must be supported to help resolve the issues at hand. One example of such efforts are community pantries, which started specifically in response to food shortages due to extended COVID-19 lockdowns. Given the lack of government aid, these pantries have become necessary for the survival of hungry families. The basic premise is that those who are able donate to the pantries, while those in need take from it. However, it has since grown into larger movements, involving not only those from the surrounding urban communities, but also people from far away parts of the country, including rural farmers and fisherfolk. These pantries are a powerful means of resistance to the condition the Filipino people are kept in. Other non-governmental organizations help distribute food and clean water, and help provide training and programs to help the poor escape poverty. These grassroots initiatives are vital to more equitably redistributing food access and feeding those in need in the Philippines, and the international community should lend our ongoing support by spreading awareness and sharing resources.
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