Stormy, the Philippines is a third world country...I'm part Filipino myself, and until people from Western societies actually go to third world countries they can have NO concept of what poverty really is. Living below the poverty line doesn't mean that you don't get heating in winter or have to get a dole cheque, it means that on some days you don't eat at ALL.
As is typical with most third world societies, 90% of the country's wealth is held by about 10% of the population, who live like royalty and are in many cases richer than their equivalents in first world countries.
The biggest export of the Philippines is labour - and the remittances they send back to their country keeps the country going to a large extent.
It does sound unfair, and it probably is, Lav - but the reality is that they're doing better than they probably would at home, which is why they basically cop whatever conditions are imposed on them. Bit like that hostage bloke in Iraq - he had a family of eight relying on him and the reason he was in Iraq doing a dangerous job was because they needed the $$$.