{ "id": 18176, "date": "2026-05-02T15:36:04", "date_gmt": "2026-05-02T07:36:04", "guid": { "rendered": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/?p=18176" }, "modified": "2026-05-02T16:27:06", "modified_gmt": "2026-05-02T08:27:06", "slug": "who-needs-saving", "status": "publish", "type": "post", "link": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/who-needs-saving\/", "title": { "rendered": "Who needs saving?" }, "content": { "rendered": "

Social media has become a hub for armchair activists, spreading misinformation and muddled ideas of revolution, including the dangerous notion that poor people need \u2018saving\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was a new researcher at IBON, I learned on Day One to go beyond existing literature, government statistics, and online data\u2014to step out of the comforts of the office and be grounded in real-life conditions\u2014as secondary data can just as easily mislead as inform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We met Kuya Rey during the International Solidarity Mission in Negros. Once a farmer, he was driven off his land and ended up working as a farmhand in a palm oil plantation in Candoni. The job was precarious, but it was what was available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, an accident at work cost him a finger. For that, management gave him only Php5,000. He had to stop working for a few days to recover, but those days went unpaid under a strict “no work, no pay” policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Philippine Statistics Authority, Kuya Rey is counted as fully employed. In reality, his so-called employment exists without security, protection, or dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities may describe what happened in Sitio San Isidro as a “voluntary demolition”, pointing to homeowners who already accepted financial assistance. On paper, it looks orderly\u2014consent given, compensation paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that version falls apart the moment we talked to the residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each structure cleared was not just a single household. Behind one owner\u2019s consent were five to seven renting families living under the same roof\u2014families who had no say in the decision, no compensation, and nowhere to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Health (DOH) may report that the doctor-to-patient ratio in the Cordillera Administrative Region meets the standard. On paper, it suggests that there are enough doctors to serve the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the picture shifts when you speak with health workers in Baguio City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They point out that not all doctors can treat all conditions, with each having a specialization and a limited scope of practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also the issue of the terrain. In Baguio City, hospitals and communities are separated by steep, winding roads. For many residents, especially those in more remote areas, reaching a doctor is far from straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may also be said that barangay health centers are in place across Iloilo City\u2014proof on paper that basic healthcare has reached the community level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the picture changes when you visit the communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the facilities operate without electricity or running water. There is also a limited number of deployed health workers\u2014too few to meet the needs of the communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are details you won\u2019t find in reports and statistics\u2014you only see them when you visit the community, so touch grass, be with the people.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of researchers in the communities should not even be debatable anymore; it should be a logical necessity, recognized as an integral part of understanding reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And out there, I have come to grasp that it is the people whom you thought needed you and your glorious awareness-raising who will save you from your own arrogance and ignorance.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we recognize this as essential to understanding, we begin to see that what people need are researchers and activists who will tell their stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are details you won\u2019t find in reports and statistics\u2014you only see them when you visit the community, so touch grass, be with the people.<\/p>", "protected": false }, "author": 32, "featured_media": 18201, "comment_status": "open", "ping_status": "open", "sticky": false, "template": "single-withbanner.php", "format": "standard", "meta": { "_acf_changed": false, "_exactmetrics_skip_tracking": false, "_exactmetrics_sitenote_active": false, "_exactmetrics_sitenote_note": "", "_exactmetrics_sitenote_category": 0, "footnotes": "" }, "categories": [ 2048, 2049 ], "tags": [ 2412, 4299, 4099, 4298, 2343, 1962, 4300, 4098, 2973, 4296, 3020, 165, 2437, 4297 ], "class_list": [ "post-18176", "post", "type-post", "status-publish", "format-standard", "has-post-thumbnail", "hentry", "category-banner", "category-bird-feed", "tag-activism", "tag-baguio", "tag-candoni", "tag-cordillera-administrative-region", "tag-department-of-health", "tag-ibon-research", "tag-ilo-ilo", "tag-international-solidarity-mission", "tag-marcos-administration", "tag-negros", "tag-philippine-statistics-authority", "tag-psa", "tag-research", "tag-sitio-san-isidro", "wpautop" ], "acf": [], "publishpress_future_action": { "enabled": false, "date": "2026-08-08 04:27:51", "action": "change-status", "newStatus": "draft", "terms": [], "taxonomy": "category", "extraData": [] }, "publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger": { "enabledWorkflows": [] }, "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18176", "targetHints": { "allow": [ "GET" ] } } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post" } ], "author": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32" } ], "replies": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18176" } ], "version-history": [ { "count": 2, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18176\/revisions" } ], "predecessor-version": [ { "id": 18198, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18176\/revisions\/18198" } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18201" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18176" } ], "wp:term": [ { "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18176" }, { "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18176" } ], "curies": [ { "name": "wp", "href": "https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}", "templated": true } ] } }