Bulatlat - The Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine

Do you consider yourself poor? The Macapagal-Arroyo administration apparently does not think so based on its most recent computation of the poverty threshold. Expect President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to highlight her alleged victory in her upcoming state of the nation address (SONA).

When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her state of the nation address (SONA) on July 24, expect her to highlight her administration’s alleged victory in the war against poverty.

Statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) indeed show that there was a reduction in the number of poor families from 2000 to 2003. (The NSCB has also released poverty data as of 2004 but these are still preliminary estimates as of this writing.)

From 4,146,663 families in 2000, the number of poor families in 2003 slightly decreased to 4,022,695. Considering that the Philippines has a population of about 80 million, one is wont to think that poverty does not affect majority of the people.

For the administration, the poverty threshold or poverty line is pegged at an annual income of P12,309 ($234.94, based on an exchange rate of P52.39 per US dollar). The NSCB defines poverty threshold or poverty line as “the minimum income required to meet the food requirements and other non-food basic needs.”

It must be stressed, however, that as far as the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is concerned, P12,309 ($234.94) is enough to meet a person’s food and non-food needs for one whole year. This means that a person living in the Philippines who has P34.19 ($0.65) in his or her pocket can survive in one day and is not poor in the eyes of government.

For a person living in the National Capital Region (NCR), he or she only needs P46.49 ($0.89) to meet food and non-food requirements. For those living outside NCR, the daily per capita poverty threshold ranges from P27.24 or $0.52 (Central Visayas) to P40.89 or $0.78 (Southern Tagalog A).

A minimum wage earner in the NCR therefore is said to be not poor since his or her daily wage of P350 or $6.68 can support the needs of a family of six.

Given these standards, one should not be surprised that there are only 110,864 families in the NCR who are considered poor. This proves to be the case, notwithstanding the long-standing demand for higher wages and the periodic protests of concerned groups and individuals against the marginalized sectors’ unrewarding toil.

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration is expected to use these statistics not only as basis for its supposed pro-poor orientation, but also as justification for continuing its current policies and programs mainly with regard to wage increases and the need to control prices of basic commodities. What is the point, after all, of granting substantial wage increases if majority of the people are actually not poor anymore?

Clearly, official statistics on poverty which are mainly used to justify the correctness of economic policies and programs must be taken with a grain of salt, so to speak. The figures do not clearly mirror the reality one has to face every day and must therefore struggle to radically change. Bulatlat

Poverty in the Eyes of the Government 2003 (poverty threshold in pesos)
	Annual Per Capita Poverty Threshold	Daily Per Capita Poverty Threshold	Number of Poor Families
Philippines	12,309	34.19	4,022,695
National Capital Region (NCR)	16,737	46.49	110,864
Areas outside NCR	12,186	33.85	3,911,831

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)	14,033	38.98	72,084
Region I (Ilocos)	13,281	36.89	213,846
Region II (Cagayan Valley)	11,417	31.71	113,298
Region III (Central Luzon)	14,378	39.94	242,820
Region IV-A (Southern Tagalog) a/	14,720	40.89	316,911
Region IV-B (Southern Tagalog) b/	12,402	34.45	199,485
Region V (Bicol)	12,379	34.39	383,625
Region VI (Western Visayas)	12,291	34.14	397,073
Region VII (Central Visayas)	9,805	27.24	286,478
Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)	10,804	30.01	266,423
Region IX (Western Mindanao)	10,407	28.91	258,497
Region X (Northern Mindanao)	11,605	32.24	278,538
Region XI (Southern Mindanao)	11,399	31.66	231,068
Region XII (Central Mindanao)	11,328	31.47	227,093
CARAGA	11,996	33.32	195,622
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)	12,733	35.37	228,970
Source of basic data: NSCB a/ consists of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon and Rizal b/ consists of Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon

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