The National Economic and Development Authority, or NEDA, yesterday sought to put into perspective a survey result that showed over 13 million Filipino families

rated themselves poor last September.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan pointed out that the Social Weather Stations survey released the other day was conducted when typhoons were wreaking havoc on the country.

The SWS survey showed that 13.2 households consider themselves living in poverty, up by about 700,000 from the 12.5 million families that rated themselves poor last June.

"We note that the SWS September survey was conducted after a series of typhoons hit the country, which also affected food prices and directly impacted families who lacked the means to cope with the increase in prices," Balisacan said.

The NEDA chief did not specify which typhoons he was referring to and what areas of the country were hardest hit.

"As we noted earlier, poverty measures based on respondents' perceptions are sensitive to inflation, particularly for essential commodities. Food inflation in September was higher than in June due to supply disruptions," he said.

Supply chain issues

Due to problems with the supply chain, Balisacan said food inflation rose higher in September this year.

Philippine Statistics Authority data showed that overall inflation rose from 5.3 percent in August to 6.1 percent in September. The PSA noted that food inflation increased from 8.2 percent to 10 percent in that period.

Nevertheless, Balisacan said the Marcos administration is determined to lower the poverty rate to 9 percent by 2028. For its part, the government is taking short-term steps to ease poverty, he added.

He cited examples of those steps as the food stamp program, removing pass-through fees for vehicles transporting goods, and handing out cash aid through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program.

He said the government is also into creating more and better jobs.

"This will involve expanding our markets, improving our infrastructure, and attracting more strategic investments while preparing the workforce with the necessary skills for the jobs that will be created," Balisacan said.

Likewise, the government has approved "green lanes" to get more projects approved faster under the Regional Comprehensive Partnership.

"We will pursue programs to modernize agriculture, improve productivity, and enhance the linkages to markets," Balisacan said. "Given these strategies and our whole-of-society approach, we are optimistic that we can reduce the poverty incidence among Filipinos to 9 percent by 2028."