POVERTY incidence in the Philippines declined to 26.3 percent in the first half of 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
The estimates of poverty incidence came from the income data of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted by the PSA.
During the same period in 2012, poverty incidence among Filipinos recorded at 27.9 percent.
Malacanang welcomed the results of the latest poverty incidence report from the PSA, noting that this was a record low since 2009.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the PSA report also stated that extreme poverty—as measured by the proportion of the population unable to meet their basic food requirements—dropped for the first time below double-digit rates to 9.2 percent of families.
"This latest announcement comes on the heels of another positive report from the PSA. Released just last week, the most recent round of the Labor Force Survey indicates that our unemployment rate dropped further from 6.6 percent to 5.8 percent between January 2015 and 2016. This is the lowest rate recorded for all such surveys conducted in January over the past ten years. Led by the services and industry sectors, total employment grew by 2 percent year-on-year, reaching 39.2 million with an estimated 752,000 additional workers," he added.
The Palace official attributed the PSA reports to good governance.
"Seen within the context of a momentum that began in 2010, these developments stand as further testaments to the positive impact of good governance. Under Daang Matuwid, our people have gone from success to success, continuously reaping gains in various indicators of quality of life," Lacierda said.
"Since 2009, overall poverty in the country has decreased by 2.3 percent. Hunger incidence has similarly gone down. According to the Social Weather Stations’ Fourth Quarter 2015 Survey, the number of Filipino families experiencing hunger has fallen from 15.7 percent in September 2015 to 11.7 percent. In real numbers, this equates to an estimated 900,000 families no longer experiencing involuntary hunger. With this figure, the average hunger rate for 2015 stands at 13.4 percent—4.9 points below the 2014 average of 18.3 percent, and the lowest annual rate for the series in 11 years," he said.
Lacierda said foremost among the government’s social intervention initiatives is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which has been credited for helping millions of the country’s chronic poor cross over the poverty threshold.
"The challenge now is to further empower our people so that the transient poor—those who have crossed over to non-poor status yet remain vulnerable to economic shocks due to disaster and disease—will not again fall beneath the poverty line," he explained.
Lacierda noted that while encouraging, the latest poverty figures present a constant challenge for Daang Matuwid in further ramping up and scaling up efforts toward a future where no one is left behind.
"Now that we have made significant headway and are on the cusp of even greater progress, we all the more need a steadfast hand to guide us toward this next level of Daang Matuwid. We trust that our voters will choose the best and most capable leaders for this task, and allow even more generations of our countrymen to achieve the Filipino dream," he said. (SDR/Sunnex)