Several senators questioned the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) poverty threshold in estimating the poverty rate in the Philippines, which is unreasonably low given recent rises in food prices.
The government defines a family to be food poor once their daily food budget cannot exceed P64, or P21 for a single meal, which was disputed by Sen. Nancy Binay.
A household is regarded as poor if its total monthly expenditure is less than P2,775, which equals P92.50 each day, according to NEDA’s data. The criteria is based on the government estimated minimal cost of meeting a family’s basic necessities.
“Three meals ho iyan, ‘di ba? Parang lumalabas na P20 per person per meal. Sa tingin n‘yo ho ba, that number is sufficient, ‘yung P20?” Binay addressed during the briefing with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
“Hindi ko alam kung saan aabot ‘yung P92.50,” Sen. Joel Vilanueva added.
NEDA Sec. Arsenio Balisacan responded, stating that there is a need to review the government’s poverty threshold to account for inflation.
“Relative prices have changed, kasi nga nakita natin ‘yung price of rice, inflation there has been over 20% for the last couple of months. So obviously, doon lang, talagang ubos na ‘yung P20 per (meal),” Balisacan explained.
A Social Weather Stations survey issued last month found that up to 58% of Filipinos regarded their family to be poor.
Photo courtesy: Boyet Ignacio, Flickr