The National Statistical Coordination Board reported that the
number of poor families as a percentage of the total number of families
fell to 19.7 percent in 2012 from 20.5 percent in 2009. This means that
the number of poor persons as a proportion of the total population fell
to 25.2 percent in 2012 from 26.3 percent in 2009. Simply put, one in
four Filipinos is poor. In fact, the marginal improvement in poverty
alleviation was attributed to the increase in the number of
beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer program (under which
monthly cash subsidies are given to the poorest of the poor in exchange
for ensuring that children are kept in school and mothers avail
themselves of healthcare) and the adjustment in the salaries of
government employees. From about 300,000 families in 2009, the number of
families covered by the CCT program rose to 3 million in 2012.
The National Economic and Development Authority acknowledged that the decline in the poverty rate was slow. Worse, the ranks of the poor are forecast to swell because Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and other natural calamities that struck the Philippines this year can heighten “transient” poverty—meaning people who were previously not poor have been suddenly pushed below the poverty line because of natural calamities and other unwanted circumstances.
There has been little change in the percentage of Filipinos living below the poverty line in the past six years. The 25.2-percent poverty incidence for 2012 was only slightly less than the 28.8 percent recorded in the first half of 2006 and the 28.6 percent in the first half of 2009 and 2011.
A family of five is considered extremely poor if it is earning P5,458 a month, or just enough to put food on the table. This is about P36 a day per person, or less than $1. In contrast, the World Bank’s extreme poverty line is $1.25. The same family of five has to earn at least P7,821 if it wants to satisfy nonfood needs such as clothing. This is equivalent to about P52 a day per person, or less than $2, the average poverty line in developing countries and another common measurement of deep deprivation, according to the World Bank.
The National Economic and Development Authority acknowledged that the decline in the poverty rate was slow. Worse, the ranks of the poor are forecast to swell because Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and other natural calamities that struck the Philippines this year can heighten “transient” poverty—meaning people who were previously not poor have been suddenly pushed below the poverty line because of natural calamities and other unwanted circumstances.
There has been little change in the percentage of Filipinos living below the poverty line in the past six years. The 25.2-percent poverty incidence for 2012 was only slightly less than the 28.8 percent recorded in the first half of 2006 and the 28.6 percent in the first half of 2009 and 2011.
A family of five is considered extremely poor if it is earning P5,458 a month, or just enough to put food on the table. This is about P36 a day per person, or less than $1. In contrast, the World Bank’s extreme poverty line is $1.25. The same family of five has to earn at least P7,821 if it wants to satisfy nonfood needs such as clothing. This is equivalent to about P52 a day per person, or less than $2, the average poverty line in developing countries and another common measurement of deep deprivation, according to the World Bank.
Meanwhile,
the National Statistics Office reported that the unemployment rate as
of October 2013 eased slightly to 6.5 percent from 6.8 percent in the
same period last year. The improvement was traced to the wholesale and
retail trade (for example, shopping malls) in the services sector, which
more than offset the decline in the agriculture sector. The services
sector employs more than half of the workers in the country at 53.4
percent, followed by the agriculture sector with 31.4 percent, and
industry with 15.2 percent.
The poverty and unemployment survey results
indicate that while the Philippine economy with its stellar growth
rates is the envy of many of its neighbors, the expansion is not
addressing the basic problems of poverty and unemployment. In short, the
economic boom remains “exclusive” to the usual contributors to the
growth in gross domestic product, namely real estate, retail and
business process outsourcing, and not the manufacturing or industry
sectors that provide lasting employment.
The Aquino administration knows the problem
and is actually not lacking in plans to address it. As Economic
Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said: “The Philippine Development
Plan Midterm Update puts emphasis on the reduction of underemployment in
agriculture and the creation of conditions for the emergence of new
drivers of growth that will generate high-quality jobs and strengthen
the competitiveness of different regions in the country. Linking the
manufacturing sector with agriculture is one of the means to create
quality employment.”
The administration can blame poverty and
unemployment problems on its predecessor’s failed policies, but it must
remember that it is now in a position to take charge and implement
structural reforms that will reverse the situation. Giving more
attention to the vanishing manufacturing sector is a good starting point
to address the issue of joblessness and, consequently, poverty.
Hopefully, this will ultimately make economic growth “inclusive.”
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