Gov’t to hit 11% poverty rate–Pernia

The 14% poverty incidence target for 2022 can be achieved next year, according to Pernia. #povertyincidence

Government on Wednesday expressed confidence that more Filipinos will be lifted out from poverty before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends on 30 June 2022.

In an press briefing in Malacañang, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia said poverty incidence could be reduced to 10 to 12 percent by 2022 from their original target of 14 percent.

“My estimate is I think it’s going to go down to 11 percent, if you let poverty incidence which is by 16.6 percent now drop by 2.23 percent a year then we will hit I think something like 11 or even less than that,” Pernia told reporters.

“Actually, we are only about 1.6 percentage point to the 14% poverty reduction—14% poverty rate by 2022, midyear. So it’s a walk in the park na maabot natin iyong [that we reach the] 14% by 2022. By next year maabot na iyon eh, mag-exceed na tayo ng [we can reach it, we can exceed it] we will have a poverty incidence even lower than 14% by next year if we go by the rate of decline in poverty incidence,” he added.

At the same time, Pernia is elated over figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which reveal that poverty incidence went down to 16.6% in 2018, compared to 23.2% in 2015.

Hs said this is a sharp reduction in poverty incidence by about 6.7 percent.

“So I suppose that everybody is heartened by the news about the reduction, sharp reduction in poverty incidence by 6.7 percentage points which translates to 2.3 percentage points every year reduction. So it’s now 16.6%,” he said.

“So if we project it to the future assuming that it will continue to decrease by about 2 to 2.23 percentage point every year, then we should easily reach our objective by the end of this President’s administration, poverty incidence will go down to 14%,” he added

Pernia said in terms of what brought down or what factors explained the bringing down of poverty incidence sharply, there is employment numbers that show unemployment rate going down from double digits.

“In the past, in previous administration – its double digits, it’s now gone down to 5.1% in 2018. So 2019, it has gone down farther to 4.5% unemployment rate. In terms of underemployment rate it used to be in the 20’s in previous administrations, now it is down to 13.1% last year. This year, it has gone down farther to 13% flat, underemployment rate,” Pernia said.

“So meaning that more jobs are created, I think in between 2018 and 2019 the next employment increase, the net job addition was 1.8 million – 1.8 million additional jobs were created. So, yearly, I think it’s on the order of 1.4 million? So, that is one major factor that brought down poverty incidence – that people are having more jobs, so they have incomes,” he said.

Also contributing to poverty reduction is the policy reforms instituted under the Duterte administration such as the CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer.

“We have have policy reforms, we have institutionalized the CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer), and many families have benefited from that program, in the sense that families are given 500 pesos for the family. And then for school children 300 pesos a month is given allowance to children who go to school and also who are brought to health centers for regular checkups and you know whatever medication they may need to stay healthy,” Pernia said.

“And also we have Conditional Cash Transfers that were meant to alleviate the increases in gasoline, in fuel prices due to the TRAIN Law and also Pantawid Pasada for public transport drivers, public jeepney drivers, as well as other income transports have been made possible,” he added.

Also, Pernia said that government have intensified their family planning program.

“This program that has been neglected by the previous administrations, but now it is going full steam. We are providing access to family planning services to women or couples who desire to have fewer children than what they are having. Enough children that they can provide for and that they want, because surveys have shown that – especially for women, they are having, let’s say five, six children but they really only want three children. So with family planning services, the wanted number of children is being made possible now for couples and for women especially those coming from the poor sector. This is also an important instrument in bringing down poverty,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pernia said that the ideal amount of monthly income that a family member should take home in order to be happy is about P10,727.

He said that is enough to meet the basic food and non-food needs of a family of five.

“The desideratum for the family is what would make the family happy. But then, in terms of basic needs, really basic needs, basic food and non-food needs, the estimate is about 11,000 – P10,700. In terms of basic needs ha, which is an international way of looking at what is the basic income required for daily subsistence. In the Philippines, it’s 10,700,” Pernia said.

“It’s used to be 9,000 ‘no? It’s used to be less than 10,000 but it has increased to—it’s used to be 9,400; it’s now 10,700,” he added.

Among the food items that the family could eat for the whole day include scrambled egg, coffee with milk, boiled monggo with malunggay, dried dilis, fried fish/boiled pork, vegetable, boiled rice/rice-corn mix, bread or boiled rootcrops.