Residents of selected puroks in one of the coastal barangays in Bacolod city are similar to many other coastal urban poor communities spread throughout the Philippine islands these days.
More than two thirds of the respondents (66.97 percent) belong to households with five members or less. Most of these households consist of both parents (aged between 24 to 49 years) and two to three children per household (aged between 1 to 19 years).
Some 53.98 percent of household members are children that are almost evenly distributed in terms of age from 0 to 19 years of age.
Because only a little over half of these households (52.37 percent) have two or more breadwinners, the need to have enough income to support the need for growing and studying children is heartfelt by all the households covered by this study.
Most of the respondents (77.25 percent) only have the benefit of a high school education or less. 43.05 percent of the respondents finished up to grade 6 elementary or less. 7.12 percent of the respondents have no formal schooling whatsoever.
Only 9.08 percent of the respondents were able to graduate from college and an insignificant number of them (0.22 percent) have a Masters degree.
While 33.96 percent of the respondents are still in school which means a significant number of children must have stopped going to school.
Many of the respondents who have not finished their schooling (34.34 percent) cited the high cost of education as the primary reason for doing so.
It is not surprising therefore to find that half of the respondents describe themselves to be self-employed (29.86 percent) or fisher folk (20.31 percent).
The other half of the respondents is broken down to the ff: private employees (16.04 percent), unskilled workers (10.92 percent), skilled workers (10.755 percent), government workers (3.75 percent), overseas workers (2.39 percent) and pensioners (2.22 percent). Only 2.05 percent of the respondents describe are professionals (engineers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc.). Of these working respondents, only 76.02 percent describe themselves to be regular (as against seasonal) workers.
Just how much income do the respondents make in a month’s time?
38 percent of the respondents make only 5,000 pesos or less per month. 32.14 percent make 9,999 to 5001 pesos a month or less.
Only 9.82 percent of the respondents make up to 14,999 pesos a month, and only 17.27 percent make 15,000 or more pesos a month.
Some 70 percent of the respondents do not or just barely meet the minimum wage requirements to keep themselves above the poverty line. This plus the fact that most of the respondents are children/minors gives us a clear idea of the kind of financial burdens that these people face day to day.
How do the respondents make ends meet?
Fortunately, 86.01 percent of the respondents have other sources of livelihood.
Many (33.33 percent) of these respondents do self-employed work on the side (buy and sell) as secondary sources of livelihood, 21.57 percent of these respondents do additional work as unskilled workers (21.57 percent) to augment their income, 19.61 percent of these respondents do the same as skilled workers on the side, and 11.76 of these respondents work as fishermen on their spare time. Some 35 percent of the respondents have engaged in fishing regularly or occasionally in the past 12 months. Most of these respondents did their fishing "de motor" (91.89 percent).
Most of the fish caught were 'tabagak' (67.31 percent), and 'tuloy' (27.88 percent).
Also, 30.84 percent of the respondents receive cash or kind as gifts from family and friends. 45.63 percent of those respondents who do receive these cash or gifts on a monthly basis. 24.27 percent of these respondents only ask for such assistance irregularly during emergencies only. 98.08 percent of the gifts or assistance these respondents receive is in the form of cash.
Twenty percent of the respondents who receive cash gifts from relatives and friends receive 99,999 pesos or less per year. But 26.67 percent of the respondents receive only 10,000 pesos or below a year and 17.33 percent of the respondents receive only 19,999 pesos a year or less.
Moreover, 44.01 percent of the respondents have raised livestock in the past 12 months. Most of the livestock raised were chickens (58.11 percent) and ducks (43.24 percent). 26.35 percent of the livestock raised were pigs and only 8.11 percent of the livestock raised were fighting cocks. Raising and selling more fighting cock eggs or chicks would have increased their income considerably.
Surprisingly, 40.90 percent of the respondents or their co-household members have participated in barangay activities in the past six months.
This level of participation is not unknown in urban and rural poor communities who organize themselves or are organized by NGOs or LGUs to deal with common concerns, especially if the LGU is dynamic and responsive.
Most of these respondents or their family members who have participated in local government activities were women (51.85 percent). Most of the activities had to do with environmental protection (32.33 percent), socio-cultural affairs (21.05 percent), and sports (10.53 percent). Another 26.32 percent of these activities were voluntary and contributory (dagyaw) in nature.
Only 4.51 percent of the activities wherein the respondents or their household members had participated in had to do with law enforcement, peace and order. This may be due to the statistical fact that 42.09 percent of the respondents perceive their community to be neither peaceful nor violent and that 31.34 percent of the same perceive their community to be somewhat peaceful.
They say that violent events happen only rarely in their community and that the residents are generally peaceful and that the barangay officials are doing their jobs. But 15.82 percent of respondents believe their community to be somewhat violent and 4.48 percent of the respondents see their community as very violent.
These respondents say that there have been many knifing and fighting incidences and many drunks especially when there are special occasions. 18.87 percent of the respondents say that partisan politics among local officials result into conflict. Others have attributed crime and violence due to drug addiction (20 percent).
22.75 percent of the respondents and/or their household member belong to some form of organization (religious or NGO/PO). Of the respondents who do, 58.44 percent belong to a religious organization, 24.68 percent belong to a socio-civic organization, 12.99 percent belong to an NGO, and only 3.9 percent belong to a cooperative.
Majority of the respondents (65.06 percent) said they have an active barangay development council. Some 70 percent of the respondents know of an activity that has been carried out by the same in the past 12 months. Most of these activities had to do with environmental protection (50.29 percent). 19.43 percent had to do with sports, 11.43 percent had to do with a cultural event, 9.71 percent involved health related issues, and only 9.14 percent of these activities had to do with livelihood. Clearly, the focus of local officials in these communities involved environmental concerns rather than or together with economic and development programs.
TV and radio serves as the most important and frequent news sources about what the city and national government are doing for the people of Punta Taytay.
Less than 10 percent of the respondents say that they get their news about the city and national government by reading the daily papers.
Regarding news about their barangay government; barangay officials in Punta Taytay disseminate news and information through the neighborhood 'grapevine' (52.34 percent), assemblies (29.60 percent), local newspaper (28.35 percent), community leaders (27.41 percent), barangay development council (10.9 percent), and the community bulletin board (10.9 percent) to do its work effectively. Bulletin boards, when secured from vandalism, serve to bring official news to the community and lessen the misinformation and disinformation that frequents the rumor mills. Perhaps, the community needs a bigger bulletin board or to have more of the same distributed in more places to make bulletin boards more effective.
Consequently, only 11.18 percent of the respondents know the details regarding the cost and expenditure of barangay activities and events. Of these respondents who are in the know, 61.76 percent of these knew by attending and listening in barangay assemblies. Again, only some 11 percent of those who know were able to source their information from bulletins boards.
