Proem

In the latest release of poverty incidence in the Philippines, the Province of Bohol was listed as the 17th in poverty incidence among the 72 provinces. This is somewhat queer because majority of the Boholanos do not fit the image of a poor person. There must be an explanation.

Non-Typical of the Poor

According the survey of the National Statistics Office, 97% of Boholanos own or have owner-like possession of the house and lot they are living in. Therefore, practically all Boholano families own a house and lot. It is not an image of a poor family.

During fiestas, Boholanos can afford to celebrate the feast for two days. In other provinces, fiesta feast will be done only for one meal on the noon of the feast day.

again it is not an image of a poor family.

If you go to the farthest nook and corner of Bohol, you will find magnificent houses complete with accessories. Again it is not an image of a poor family.

If you will go to the towns and enter a "poor looking house, you will be surprised that a college diploma of at least one of the children is hung on the wall. But if you will ask the family, they will say that they are poor.

You have heard of Boholanos dying of food poisoning but you have not heard of a Boholano dying of starvation.

If you will go to the banks you will find out that they are awash with deposits both in pesos, dollars, or euros. In fact the banks in Bohol are complaining that Boholanos like to deposit but do not like to make a loan.

So how will you explain why Boholanos still perceive themselves to be poor? If you will ask a Boholano whether he is rich or poor, majority will answer that they are poor.

Wrong Survey Tool

Recently, one of the agency that conduct surveys of poverty incidence came to our office to have their questionnaires validated. I discovered that their frame of reference is not culture sensitive. It is based on western culture and not Boholano culture.

If you eat only two full meals a day you are poor. No wonder that Boholano farmers are all poor because in our culture they only eat twice a day. The farmer will just drink something hot and start farming early in the morning while the carabao can still tolerate the temperature. It is also not good to work with a full stomach. At around 10 o'clock in the morning the farmer will stop working and rest his carabao. Around 10:30 A.M. the farmer will eat his first full meat. At noon he would not eat because he is still full. He will next eat a full meal around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m.

If you do not have a toilet, especially a flush toilet, you are poor. The folk wisdom in Bohol is "Unsa may tigtigom nianang bahô? = Why would you gather that odorous thing?" Without proper water supply, it would be more sanitary without the toilet. So many Boholanos are classified as poor.

If the household income is less than P5,000 a month, the family is poor. But who among the ordinary Boholanos know how much is his monthly income? This question is only good for those with steady jobs with salary.

Religious Influence

When I read about the history of the Puritans when they arrived in Massachusetts, U.S.A. in 1629, I made a conclusion that religion is really a factor. The Puritans organized a community with its government not for worthy gain but for religion. The Puritans called themselves the "Saints." Their main teaching is that each one was his brother's keeper. They must persevere with the purpose of taking care of his neighbor and not to engage in shrewd business transactions. In fact the allowed profit was only 5% based on the buying price of the item. The transportation and add on expenses could not be considered.

The Puritan's situation has an uncanny parallelism with the Boholanos. In the Boholano culture, the ideal purpose of life is contentment and not to make a quick profit due to shrewd transactions. If a member of the extended family becomes prosperous, he has the obligation to help his relatives. He must be his brother's keeper as what our religion taught us.

If the eldest or the brightest in the family has already finished college and obtained a job, he has the obligation to send his sibling to school.

You can observe that Boholanos do not like to establish business enterprises in Bohol. His obligation to his extended family will surely pull his business down.

The Boholanos with money will just secretly deposit his money in the bank. The last time I know, the Boholanos have six billion dollars deposited in the different banks in Tagbilaran. You can just guess how must is the pesos deposit.

So the real problem is not poverty alleviation or poverty reduction. The real problem is how to harness the idle money deposited in the banks. Our leaders must think of schemes how to make the Boholanos invest their money in enterprises without fear of being dragged down by their extended family relations.