MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / May 1, 2014) – The Global Call to Action Against Poverty Philippines has questioned the government’s poverty statistics, saying poverty has increased and did not go down as what Manila is insisting.
“Don’t fool us with your statistics” it said, reacting to the report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority that poverty incidence went down to 24.9% of the population in the first semester of 2013.
According to GCAP Philippines, the change in the figure is due to the different metric used in measuring poverty incidence – from the usual Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) to Annual Poverty and Indicator Survey (APIS).
Going by the FIES, the poverty incidence increased in 2006 and has remained high even after three years into the Aquino Administration.
“We challenge the government to come clean to the public in trying to maneuver the statistics on poverty. We believe that changing the method is highly questionable. Nevertheless, no matter what method is used—APIS or FIES—the government has admitted it will not reach the 16.6% target of the Millennium Development Goal in poverty eradication,” GCAP Philippines said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Currently, the poverty threshold stands at P52 per person per day. According to the government, the poverty threshold is the amount a family or individual needs in order not be considered poor.”Having P52 is not enough to provide decent living for one person even for a day,” it said.
GCAP Philippines urged the government to be realistic in addressing poverty reduction and avoid hiding the reality under the official poverty statistics that is making matters worse for the genuine poor.
It maintains that economic growth, no matter how high, is meaningless if it does not translate into improved quality of life for the average Filipino.
The government officials need to get out of their air-conditioned offices and feel the pressing issues and experienced everyday by the majority of Filipinos, it further said.
The poor and marginalized still experience inaccessibility of basic services compounded by privatization of government institutions and rampant corruption.
According to GCAP Philippines, the National Housing Authority and local governments still prioritize resettlement designs that are only for rent and not for ownership by the urban poor people resettled.
It said resettlement areas also need to package basic services including sustainable livelihood options needed for decent living.
Furthermore, recent developments in the pork barrel case also reveals more allegations of government officials involved in the corruption case, which unfortunately include a big number of elected and appointed officials.
Among all these issues of corruption and privatization, it said the poor are the most vulnerable, yet usually the most left out in the development processes.
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