The Philippines was once one of the Four Asian Tigers. Why do more than 4 million people still live in slums in the capital?

Because the gap between rich and poor in the Philippines is very large. Since President Duterte came to power, the Philippines has achieved fruitful results in infrastructure construction, public security management, economic development, and improving relations with neighboring countries, and has been highly praised by the media. Despite this, there are still many problems that need to be solved for the development of the Philippines. The distribution of population and wealth is one of the most vexing issues.

Geographically, the Philippines is backed by the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to East Asia. At the same time, there are currently more than 100 million people working as cheap labor in the international market. These inherent advantages can be said to be the solid foundation for the development of the Philippines. But in reality, the reality is surprising. The Philippines has not taken advantage of these advantages and has even become a stumbling block to its own development.

The level of economic development is not commensurate with the size of the population, and the distribution is extremely uneven. In the Philippines, the huge gap between rich and poor has become a serious social problem. It was once a country with a rich colonial heritage and one of the best economies in Asia. In the 1990s, it was known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers".

But in the past two or three decades, the gap between rich and poor in the Philippines has begun to emerge. The rich live in villas and drive luxury cars, while the poor pick up garbage and eat swill... Especially in Manila, more than 4 million people live in slums, accounting for about one-fifth of the city's population. With so much to look forward to, why is the situation in the Philippines getting worse? Is development stagnant or even getting worse, with the gap between rich and poor continuing to widen? This status quo can be traced from ancient times to the present. A country's transition from prosperity to depression is not without reasons; it also has its own reasons.