MANILA (UPDATE) – Poverty incidence in the country fell to 16.1 percent from 22.2 percent in the same period in 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday, hitting the government’s target of lifting at least 1 million people from poverty annually.
The number of poor Filipinos in the first half of 2018 dropped to 23.1 million, from the 28.8 million in the same period in 2015, data from the PSA showed.
“It’s a reasonable expectation that we are on track to meet targets,” National Economic and Development Authority Usec. Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos told reporters.
At least a million Filipinos need to be lifted from poverty every year to meet the 14 percent poverty incidence target by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez said last year, noting that it is ”the most important number” for the economic managers.
Development will be “meaningless” if it does not mean “liberating people from the curse of poverty,” he said.
A family of 5 needs to spend at least P10,481 a month for food and non-food items to not be considered poor, PSA Assistant Secretary Josie Perez said.
More Filipino families were able spend past this threshold as the average income went up to 21.2 percent from 15.2 percent, NEDA Usec. Adoracion Navarro told reporters.
“Growth in construction created more employment opportunities for Filipinos,” she said.
“The expansion and enhancement of government social programs also helped augment income of Filipinos,” she said.
It helped cushion vulnerable groups from effects of the tax reform law, Navarro said, referring to the upward adjustment of prices brought by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law
There is no data yet on the number of middle class families who fell to the poverty threshold after prices of basic goods increased due to TRAIN and inflation, Perez said.
Poverty incidence was highest in ARMM at 55.4 percent, and lowest in NCR at 4.9 percent.
Lanao del Sur was the poorest province with 73.8 percent poverty, followed by Sulu with 71.8 percent.
“We really need to bring in more income there, connectivity and jobs in the region because poverty is mainly reduced by increases in wage and salaries,” Abad Santos said.
Poverty incidence in the country could further ease should livelihood opportunities and investments expand to areas outside Metro Manila and other urban growth centers, Navarro said.
Despite challenges in regional disparities, the Philippines’ progress in its war against poverty is “satisfactory,” but the government wants the numbers to further “drop significantly,” she said.
“It’s not enough to just look at one indicator. Hindi lang poverty reduction program ang dapat nating tingnan,” she said.
Programs of reproductive health and population management should also be studied to further reduce the number of poor Filipinos, she said.
