Ex-Cabinet exec warns vs ‘tipping point’ of poverty

from the Inquirer

By Thea Alberto

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite dole-outs and subsidies, the government has still failed to help the poor, as shown by a poverty-stricken mother who killed her own children and committed suicide, a former government official said.

"It is very alarming, and this is not the first we've heard of mothers and fathers harming their own children out of desperation. It tells [us] that we are approaching a situation of poverty where people are falling off the brick," said Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, former social welfare secretary, after the forum on Social Welfare and Poverty Reduction attended by representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, non-government organizations, the academe, among others.

On Tuesday, Janeth Ponce, 32, forced three of her children to drink a bottle of liquid toilet bowl cleaner before drinking the same substance herself in Magdalena town in Laguna province. Television reports said Ponce's husband worked as a construction worker in Manila and has not been able to send them money for over a month.

"[They have] reached a tipping point and instead of violence against a perpetrator, it is horizontal violence that’s happening. It’s violence against even your loved ones and it’s really an act of desperation," said Soliman.

"Why is it alarming? It is because that means we are not able to reach people like them and provide them hope," she added.

Soliman said it was high-time the government provided long-term solutions, including "good governance."

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