I-Search+by+Francesca

by Francesca Part I--What I already know about my topic ** Philippines is my home country. I know that many years ago, its economy used to be the 2nd best in Asia, following behind Japan. However, it saddens me to know that many parts of it are currently struck by poverty. Many of the people who live in the rural areas aren't even able to have an education, but if they are lucky enough, they would be able to have some schooling. However, in order to obtain an education, the children living in poverty would have to walk miles just to get their school. Some wouldn't even have shoes, so they'd have to walk for long distances across rocky terrains. Children who didn't have any schooling would do work such as farm work, house work, or even sell cigarettes in the streets. Both kids who worked and kids who didn't work had hard lives. Just like children, adults had it hard too. They had to support their family by doing excruciating labor in hot weather. Some parents would even donate their own kidneys to get money. In addition to that, there was a flooding that destroyed many homes in the Philippines last year, which left many homeless.
 * Poverty in Philippines**

I want to find out what caused the Philippines to become a poor country. It has many resources, so why is many of the population currently living in horrible conditions? I also want to know if Philippines is a third world country, what kind of resources does it have, how much money do the lower class make each year, and why did it use to have such a great economy in the past?
 * Part II--What I Want to Find Out **

When I went to the library, I wasn't able to actually find a book that specifically talked about the Philippines, but I did find an atlas that had some relevant information to my topic. It's somewhat helped my understanding of what I learned because it talked about the population, life expectancies, how many people had access to clean water, and many more useful facts. I was also able to see how the Philippines was doing compared to many of the countries in the world.
 * Part III--The Search **

Even though the book I found was helpful, I felt that one of my internet sources provided even more information. In the article, it talked about how the economy of Philippines hasn't been very stable. It's growth and development has wavered over the years. I learned about the country's strong points and weak points. The article also discussed what challenges the Philippines was facing and how the people are trying to improve the economy.

The information I received from my sources can be a game because maybe the game could be about the Philippines' economy changing over time. Whoever is plying could be the president, and your decisions you made affected the country's progress.

In order to gain more information, I will interview my mom who's lived in the country for twenty-six years. The questions I will ask her are:


 * 1) In May, the 2010 elections will take place. Who would you vote for, and how do you think that person will affect the economy? I would vote for President Aquino because he has good plans for the economy of the Philippines such as he promises he won't be corrupt. Also, his father was favored to be the president in a past election, but he never became the president because of his assasination, and his mom was was the president that many Filipinos loved.
 * 2) What direction do you see the Philippines going in? Up or down? Why? I see the Philippines going up because according to statistics, the economy has experienced growth in the past years.
 * 3) In your opinion, what are the key things the Philippines should work on in order to become a better place? I believe they should work on providing more education because education is key to a brighter future. Not all children in the country are able to recieve a college education, which means they probably won't be able to make a lot of money for their family, and they would have to live a hard life.
 * 4) How has the changes in economy over the years affected your life? The economy has affected my life because the cost of living is expensive. It costs a lot to get an education and food. Also, because of the economy, I decided to migrate to America, so I could make more money from nursing.
 * 5) If you could go back in time, what are a few things you would change about the past so that the Philippines would be a much better place now? I would have prevented Ferdinand Marcos from being elected because he took a lot of money from the government.
 * 6) Why do you think many of the people are poor, while many of them are also rich and in middle class? I guess it all depends on the person's education.
 * 7) Why does the Philippines have the two of the biggest malls in the world even though it's still a developing country? It's because many of the people from different countries invest there because building is cheaper than it would be in America.
 * 8) When the Philippines had a very good economy, how was life like? It was a long time ago, so my memory isn't clear.
 * 9) Would you have ever imagined the economy to have fallen so much? Why or why not? Yes, I could have imagined because many politicians were corrupt.
 * 10) How do you feel about the corruption in the Philippines?
 * 11) Why do you think South Korea is currently a well developed country even though it was more affected by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis than the Philippines was? I think it's because they didn't have corrupt politicians, which is an important idea I brought up earlier.

**Part IV--What I Learned**
I learned that corruption and the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 were the two main reasons why the Philippine's have a somewhat poor economy. Even though the Philippines has many resources, many of the people are living in horrible conditions because poverty is something that can't be quickly changed. It will take time for the economy to improve. I also learned that the economy use to be good because there wasn't any corruption before. A recession that occurred between 1984 to 1985 and the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 also played a big role in the slow growth of the economy. Many of the people living in poverty have to survive with $1.00 or less per day. The resources that the Philippines has are copper, nickel, iron, cobalt, silver, and gold. The information I learned can be used with the game I chose to make because the challenges that some Filipinos have to go through in their lives can be incorporated into the spaces. For example, one space might say, "You have been hit by a hurrican. You lose $10,000." This space teaches how natural disasters make life harder for the people who have to face the wrath of the disasters.

Bank, World. //Atlas of Global Development//. World Bank, 2007. 1-144. Print.
 * Part V---Works Cited**

"Economy of the Philippines." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.// N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2010. <[]>

"Philippines Economy, Philippines Economic Profile." //EconomyWatch//. Stanley St. Labs, n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. [].

"Philippines Economy." //History Central.// N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2010. <[]>

"The Philippines in 2007: Growth, but also poverty, will linger - Special Reports - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News." GMA New Media, Inc., 1/2/2007. Web. 19 May 2010. 