More Filipinos consider themselves poor - survey

The number of Filipino families which consider themselves as "mahirap" or poor has continued to increase this year, a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed. Self-rated poverty — respondents are asked to class themselves as poor, not poor or on the borderline — was at 53 percent in September, up from June’s 50 percent and equivalent to some 9.7 million families. A Palace official blamed the economic slowdown, and raised the prospect of the rate further increasing as two strong storms devastated parts of the country after the poll was staged. But the result of the latest survey, made exclusive to BusinessWorld, was still lower than last year’s peak (59 percent, June) and the Arroyo administration’s record of 66 percent (hit three times, the last being September 2002). The historical high is 74 percent, posted in July 1985 during the Marcos dictatorship. The self-rated poverty rate, the SWS said, has been at levels of 50 percent and above since March 2008, except in February this year when it dipped to 47 percent. The third quarter survey also revealed that more families see themselves as food-poor with 41 percent or approximately 7.5 million families saying so, up from the 39 percent recorded in June. This rate has also steadily risen this year, from 36 percent in February which was an improvement from December’s 42 percent. Overall, 28 percent of Filipino households see themselves as on the borderline with respect to poverty, while the remaining 20 percent consider themselves as not poor. As to food poverty, 35 percent put themselves at the borderline while 24 percent said they were not food-poor. By region, self-rated poverty fell five percentage points in Mindanao to 57 percent, but rose to 51 percent (from 44 percent) in the Balance of Luzon and to 60 percent (from 56 percent) in the Visayas. It was basically unchanged (41 percent from 42 percent) in Metro Manila. It rose to 46 percent from 44 percent in urban areas and moved to 59 percent from 58 percent in rural areas. Similar movements were recorded in terms of self-rated food poverty: down in Mindanao (43 percent from 47 percent) and up elsewhere (Balance of Luzon, 38 percent from 35 percent; Visayas, 48 percent from 42 percent, and Metro Manila (35 percent from 32 percent). The self-rated poverty threshold — the monthly budget poor households need so as not to consider themselves poor — increased due to continued belt-tightening measures, the SWS said. It said the median poverty thresholds for poor households in Metro Manila rose to P15,000 while that in the balance of Luzon went up to P10,000. The threshold was unchanged at P5,000 in Mindanao and dropped to P5,000 in the Visayas. Metro Manila’s P15,000, the SWS said, is equivalent to only P9,536 in base year 2000 purchasing power. The deflated threshold of below P10,000 for the capital is similar to living standards of over ten years ago, it added. Families in the capital tightened their belts by P730, the SWS said, considering that the median threshold in 2000 (P10,000) is equivalent to P15,730 at the September 2009 cost of living. Median food poverty thresholds, meanwhile, rose to P6,500 in Metro Manila and to P5,000 in the Balance of Luzon. It stayed at P3,000 in Mindanao and fell to P3,000 in the Visayas. The P6,500 for Metro Manila is equivalent to only P4,257 in 2000 food purchasing power. With the 2000 threshold of P6,000 equivalent to P9,162 in Sept. 2009 cost of food terms, food-poor families cut back by P2,662, the SWS said. Asked to comment on the report, Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita said: "Definitely the global crisis has something to do with this. We are fortunate, though, we are not in a recession." However, he added: "It’s highly probable that the rate has risen especially because of Ondoy and Pepeng. The government has to continue undertaking measures to attend to the needs of those affected by the typhoons as well as with other anti-poverty programs," he added. The survey was conducted from September 18 to 21 and involved face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults. The sampling error margins used were ±2.3 percent for national percentages, ±6 for Metro Manila and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for the rest of Luzon and the Visayas. - G. S. dela Peña, BusinessWorld