Malacañang yesterday said the war on poverty is not yet over as it vowed to “do better” in implementing programs to reduce poverty in the country in the wake of a survey result showing some 12.1 million Filipino families still feel they are poor.
The nationwide survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, it found that 55 percent of the respondents, equivalent to 12.1 million Filipino families, say they are poor, the same figures registered during the June, 2014, survey.
Some 12.1 million families claim they are poor despite the P62.6-billion budget for the Condition Cash Transfer (CCT) of the government this year.
However, SWS noted that the poverty rate remains three points above the 52-percent average for the four quarters of 2013.
ANTI-POVERTY EFFORTS
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda admitted the problem cannot be solved overnight but the government is determined to step up its anti-poverty efforts.
“We would always prefer to do better than what we have done now. And, therefore, the fight against poverty continues,” Lacierda told reporters in the Palace. “Regardless of what the surveys say, we have a focused approach to addressing poverty issues,” he added.
Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government shall continue to focus on intensifying programs for poverty reduction and social protection, including increasing the budget and coverage of the CCT program.
In the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015, Coloma said the government earmarked the biggest portion of the budget to social services at P967.9 billion or 37.2 percent.
“The proposed budget also focuses on delivering high impact projects in 44 provinces with high poverty magnitude where more job opportunities will be created: provinces with high poverty incidence that require adequate social safety nets and those which are vulnerable to natural calamities,” he said.
In the latest survey conducted last September 26-29, 1,200 respondents were asked: “Saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito? (Where would you place your family in this card)?” A show card with the choices “hindi mahirap” (not poor), “sa linya” (on the line), and “mahirap” (poor) is shown.
Based on the survey, self-rated poverty in Metro Manila increased by six points to 43 percent, and by seven points to 52 percent in the rest of Luzon.
However, self-rated poverty was down by 10 points to 61 percent in Mindanao and by nine points to 65 percent in the Visayas.
43% FOOD-POOR
During the same survey period, 43 percent of Filipino families or about 9.3 million households claimed they are “food-poor.” This is higher than the 41 percent, equivalent to 9 million households who claimed they are poor, three months ago.
The question on self-rated food poverty was, “Tungkol naman sa klase ng pagkain ng pamilya ninyo, saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito (Based on the type of food eaten by your family, where would you place your family in this card)?” A similar show card with the choices “hindi mahirap” (not poor), “sa linya” (on the line), and “mahirap” (poor) is shown to the respondents.
Self-rated food poverty increased by three points in Metro Manila (30 percent) and by five points in the rest of Luzon (37 percent).
Meanwhile, self-rated food poverty “hardly changed” in the Visayas, down only by a point to 53 percent but declined by three points to 52 percent in Mindanao.
The self-rates poverty thresholds defined by SWS as home expense budget in order not to consider themselves poor in general increased to median P15,000 from P12,000 in Metro Manila.
The amount stayed at P10,000 in the rest Luzon and Mindanao, while it fell to P8,000 from P10,000 in the Visayas.
SWS further explained that the home expense budget is less than the minimum income needed because it excludes work-related expenses like transportation.
Therefore, it said the median poverty threshold “is the home expense budget that would satisfy the poorer half of the poor households.”
SELF-RATED POVERTY THRESHOLD
The pollster found that the September 2014 median self-rated poverty thresholds in Metro Manila, rest of Luzon and Mindanao are at the highest levels ever reached in those areas, while the latest figure in the Visayas was previously surpassed in June 2014, when it was at P10,000.
SWS has also noted gains with regard to self-rated food poverty threshold, or the monthly food budget that food-poor households need in order not to consider themselves food-poor.
Self-rates poverty thresholds in particular were: P8,000 from P6,000 in Metro Manila; P5,250 from P5,000 in the rest of Luzon; and P5,000 from P4,500 in Mindanao. Meanwhile, it dropped to a median of P3,550 in the Visayas from P5,000 recorded three months earlier.
SWS noted that the latest median self-rated food-poverty thresholds in Mindanao and the rest of Luzon are the highest levels ever reached in those areas, while the current level in Metro Manila was previously surpassed in September 2013 at P8,250. In the Visayas, the highest level recorded, so far, was P5,000 last June.
While recognizing the “slight rise in the self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty,” Coloma highlighted a government survey that showed a reduction in poverty incidence in the country.
Based on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Coloma said poverty incidence has eased to 24.9 percent for the first semester of 2013 compared to the 27.9 percent in the same period in 2012.
“On the other hand, the same FIES also showed subsistence incidence or the proportion of extremely poor Filipino individuals who could not afford to meet basic food requirements, also declined during the period from 13.4 percent in 2012 to 10.7 percent in 2013,” he said.
