SOCIAL ISSUE:

POVERTY

SUBMITTED TO: MS. KIDDIE MARIE CABUNILAS

SUBMITTED BY: PAUL TANGKAY

Pandemic pushed millions more
into poverty in the Philippines,
government says

Children pray before eating their free meals inside a missionary house during a feeding program
funded by a South Korean missionary, at a slum area in Baseco, Tondo city, metro Manila,
Philippines January 2, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

MANILA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - About 2.3 million people in the Philippines were
pushed into poverty between 2018 and 2021, largely due to the economic
downturn caused by the pandemic, the statistics agency said on Monday.

The number of people living in poverty in 2021 rose to a total of almost 20

million or 18.1% of the population from 16.7% in 2018, the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA) said, overshooting the government's target of
15.5%-17.5%.
Recently inaugurated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr aims to slash the
poverty rate to 9% by the end of his single six-year term in 2028 - a target
that remains achievable despite soaring inflation, according to Economic
Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

He said the government's strategy will focus on fully reopening the

economy, investing in human capital and social protection, and transforming
production sectors to generate more quality jobs and competitive products.

"We can reduce poverty incidence by 5 percentage points at midterm, and

another 4 percentage points by 2028," Balisacan told a media briefing.

The PSA - which defines poverty as including those Filipinos whose per
capita income cannot sufficiently meet individual basic food and non-food
needs - releases these statistics every three years.

Balisacan said that before the pandemic, in 2018, the country had achieved
its goal of lifting 6 million Filipinos out of poverty, four years ahead of a 2022
target.

But COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and a long-running issue of poor

households having limited access to regular and productive jobs had
plunged many Filipinos back into difficulty, he said.

REFERENCES:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pandemic-
pushed-millions-more-into-poverty-philippines-govt-2022-08-
15/