NEDA: SWS poll results is perception based

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan Secretary said on Thursday that the Social Weather Station conducted its latest poll during a time when there were typhoons in the country.

Balisacan's comments came a day after a SWS poll showed that 13.2 million Filipino families think they live in poverty, up by about 700,000 families from 12.5 million in 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 without specifying which typhoons these were or what areas were 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 this year due to the supply disruptions," Balisacan added.

Due to problems with the supply chain, Balisacan said that food inflation went up more in September this year.

The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that inflation rose from 5.3 percent in August to 6.1 percent in September due to food inflation.

PSA noted that food inflation went up from 8.2 percent in August to 10 percent last September.

Nevertheless, Balisacan said that the Marcos government is still determined to lower the poverty rate to 9% by 2028.

Additionally, he said that the administration is taking a number of short-term steps to help people in need right away. These include starting the food stamp program, getting rid of pass-through fees for vehicles transporting goods, and giving cash aid to the poorest people through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program.

As Balisacan pointed out, the government also puts a lot of effort into policies and programs that create more and better jobs. He said this is the best way to fight poverty.

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

The government has also taken steps to speed up these efforts, such as approving the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, creating "green lanes" for strategic investments, and making it easier to get projects approved, among other things.

"We will pursue programs to modernize agriculture, improve productivity, and enhance the linkage to markets," Balisacan said.

"Given these strategies and our whole-of-society approach, we are optimistic that we can still reduce poverty incidence among Filipinos to 9 percent by 2028," he added.