Gumanit, Shande L.

11-Curie

Ang pinakabagong estadistika ng poverty mula sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) ay

nakakabahala, dahil nagpapakita ito na ang bilang ng mga mahihirap na Pilipino ay tumataas sa nakalipas
na ilang taon. Mas nakakabahala pa na ang poverty rate na ayon sa PSA ay itinuturing ng ilang mga
eksperto na hindi makatotohanan, dahil ito ay nagsasabi na ang isang tao na nabibilang sa isang pamilya
ng lima ay kailangan lamang kumita ng $1.41 kada araw upang matugunan ang kanilang pang-araw-araw
na pangangailangan sa pagkain.

Bilang isang Pilipino, ang tekstong ito ay may halaga sa akin dahil nagbibigay ito ng mga
kaalaman tungkol sa kasalukuyang kalagayan ng kahirapan ng aking bansa. Ang mga estadistika na
inilahad ng PSA ay nagpapakita na isang malaking bahagi ng populasyon ay naghihirap upang makatugon
sa kanilang mga pangangailangan. Ito ay maaaring magdulot ng epekto sa aking buhay o sa mga taong
kilala ko dahil sila ay maaring naapektuhan rin ng poverty.

Ang isyung ito ay may kaugnayan din sa aking pamilya, dahil ang poverty ay maaaring magdulot
ng epekto sa ekonomikong kalagayan ng aking pamilya. Pinapakita ng artikulo ang pangangailangan para
sa mas tumpak at komprehensibong mga panukat ng kahirapan, na isa sa mga isyung maaaring magdulot
ng epekto sa kapakanan ng aking pamilya. Ang mas komprehensibong pagtasa ng poverty na nagtataglay
ng iba’t ibang mga salik tulad ng pabahay, kalusugan, at edukasyon ay maaaring magbigay ng mas
mahusay na pag-unawa sa mga pangangailangan ng aking pamilya.

Ang kahirapan ay isang malaking isyung kinakaharap ng ating lipunan, kahit sa mga maliit na
komunidad tulad ng sa atin. Pinapakita ng mga estadistika na inilahad ng PSA na isang malaking bahagi
ng populasyon ay nabubuhay sa ilalim ng poverty threshold, na maaaring magpakita ng kawalan ng
pagkakapantay-pantay sa ekonomiya at lipunan. Ang kahirapan ay maaaring magdulot ng malalaking
negatibong epekto sa mga indibidwal at komunidad, tulad ng limitadong access sa kalusugan, edukasyon,
at mga batayang serbisyo, at maaari rin nitong hadlangan ang paglago at pag-unlad ng ekonomiya.

Ang tekstong ito ay nagpapakita rin ng kahalagahan ng kolektibong aksyon sa pagtugon sa

kahirapan, sapagkat ito ay nangangailangan ng magkakaisang pagsisikap mula sa gobyerno, sibil na
lipunan, at pribadong sektor upang tugunan ang mga ugat ng kahirapan at itaguyod ang ekonomiya ng
bansa. Ito ay nakakaapekto hindi lamang sa buong bansa kundi pati ang pandaigdigang kalagayan natin
dahil ang kahirapan ay may ugnay sa iba pang pandaigdigang isyu, tulad ng pagbabago ng klima, hindi
pagkakapantay-pantay, at kawalang-katarungan sa lipunan.

Bilang konklusyon, nagpapakita ang pinakabagong estadistika ng poverty ng PSA ng

nakakabahalang rate ng pagtaas ng poverty na nakakaapekto sa lahat. Ang pamahalaan at iba pang mga
sektor ay dapat na gumawa ng agarang aksyon upang tugunan ang problemang ito, sa pamamagitan ng
pagpapatupad ng mga patakaran at programa na nagtataguyod ng paglago ng ekonomiya, paglikha ng
trabaho, at pagbawas ng kahirapan. Sa pamamagitan nito ay maaari nating matiyak na lahat ng mga
Pilipino ay may pagkakataong mamuhay ng marangal at may dignidad.
Making Sense of the Philippines’
Latest Poverty Statistics
The Philippine Statistics Authority says that nearly
1 in 5 Filipinos are living below the poverty line –
but the real number could be a lot higher.
By Mong Palatino
September 07, 2022
More Filipinos are poorer today compared to 2018,
according to the latest official data released by the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Citing its Family Income and Expenditure Survey,
the PSA said the country has 19.99 million
individuals living below the poverty threshold. This
represents 18.1 percent of the population. In 2018,
there were 17.67 million poor Filipinos. Meanwhile,
the number of “food-poor” individuals increased by
1.01 million. The PSA also reported a 7.8 percent
unemployment rate, which is equivalent to 3.71
million jobless Filipinos.
The poverty situation could be worse becausee the
PSA survey was done in 2021, and its poverty
threshold is considered unrealistic by other experts.
Converted into U.S. dollars, a person belonging to a
family of five members only needs to earn $1.41 per
day in order to survive and meet his or her daily
food requirements, according to the Philippine
government.
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Ralph
Recto, who is a former senator and former head of
the National Economic and Development Authority,
chided the PSA for using a low food threshold cost
to measure poverty.
“I do not know what sample meals were cooked by
the PSA people in their test kitchens which
prompted them to issue that food threshold cost.
Maybe the PSA would like to share their miracle
recipe for the enlightenment of families who are
having a hard time putting food on the table and
making ends meet,” he commented sarcastically.
In an editorial, the Manila Times advised the PSA to
adopt the global standard for determining the
“Reducing and ideally eliminating poverty is an
aspiration of every administration, but no
administration will be successful if it does not fully
understand the scope of the problem. It cannot
possibly do so given the inadequacy of the data
indicators it is given to work with under the current
model used by the PSA,” it stated in an editorial.
Independent think-tank Ibon Foundation pointed out
that “the reality of daily poverty is being made
invisible to official statistics.” It urged the
government to reconsider its methodology in
counting the poor and aim to uplift the conditions of
more Filipinos and not just those categorized to be
living on extreme subsistence levels..
“The government can and should have a more
expansive view. A high poverty threshold can be the
expression of ambition to raise more Filipinos, not
just the extremely poor, out of their daily lived
experience of poverty,” Ibon said.
For its part, the PSA clarified that it does not pass
judgment in gathering information about the quality
of living of individuals as it merely subscribes to
what nutritionists have identified as the basic food
requirements for a person to survive on a single day.
Compared to the PSA report, the survey done by the
private polling firm Social Weather Station (SWS)
showed a higher number of Filipinos who rated
themselves as poor and “borderline poor.” The
report pegged the number of poor families at around
48 percent of the population, which is considered
more accurate given the unprecedented loss of jobs
and livelihoods in the past two years.
“Our people are hardworking and raring to find
livelihood for their families. The government must
pave the way to make them productive,” Poe said, as
she pressed the government to allow more public
utility vehicles to resume operations.
“By 2024, unless the national government shapes up
its health mitigation program, social amelioration
and small business support and economic recovery
efforts, the severe economic scarring in both the
academe and the labor market could further trigger
several million people more joining the ranks of the
poor,” he wrote in his column for the Manila
Bulletin.