By Alec Go
About 43% or 10.9 million of Filipino families considered themselves as “poor” while 23% believed they were “not poor” in the first quarter of 2022, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) quarterly survey showed.
The December 2021 record for those who felt poor was retained due to “increases in Mindanao and Metro Manila combined with decreases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon,” while families rated “not poor” improved from 19%.
About 34% rated themselves as “borderline poor,” down from the 39% in December 2021.
The April 19-27 survey also found out that 31% families or 7.9 million families felt food-poor, similar to last quarter’s figures, while 45% felt borderline food-poor, and 24% felt otherwise.
The SWS said food-poor rose in Mindanao and Metro Manila and improved in the Visayas and Balance Luzon.
In a statement on Thursday, May 19, Malacañang cited the country’s shift to Alert Level 1 and the adoption of economic recovery measures in bid to further alleviate the economic status of Filipinos.
“For the immediate term, our efforts include shifting to Alert Level 1 to further improve the performance of key sectors such as tourism and opening of schools for face-to-face learning,” it read.
Noting that self-rated poverty did not improve from last quarter despite poverty incidence reduction in 2018, the government said “much more needs to be done to lift Filipino families from their poor condition.”
“We have therefore adopted a Ten-Point Policy Agenda for Economic Recovery last April 2022 where all government agencies are directed to ensure all-related policies, programs and measures of the government are aligned with the Ten-Point Policy Agenda,” it said. – gb
