Palace: Poverty still ‘high,’ but many families ‘to feel more comfort this year’

MALACAÑANG on Sunday said that the poverty incidence in the Philippines is still high, but it expects that many Filipinos would continue to feel more comfort this year.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo issued a statement on Sunday in response to the results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) fourth quarter survey, which was released to the public on Jan.11, showing that at least 11.6 million Filipino families consider themselves poor.
“The Palace welcomes the December 2018 survey on self-rated poverty conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) indicating that 50% of Filipino families consider themselves as “mahirap,” a drop from September 2018’s 52%. The polling firm translates this to an estimated 600,000 families saying that they no longer think of themselves as poor,” Mr. Panelo said.
The Palace noted that the survey showed “a similar drop of Filipino families rating their food as ‘mahirap,’ which stood at 34% in December 2018 vis-à-vis September 2018’s 36%.”
Mr. Panelo pointed out that such improvements in the survey “may be perceived to be in consonance with the December 2018 drop of inflation, registering at 5.1% — the lowest since June 2018.”
He added that with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s“tireless efforts in addressing and taming the inflationary effects of the prices of basic goods and commodities,” the Palace “remains optimistic that many Filipino families would continue to feel more comfort this year.”
The Palace noted that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has already advanced the forecast that “inflation for 2019 is expected to decelerate below 4%.”
“Even as we acknowledge such positive development, we note however that the poverty among Filipinos is still high,” Mr. Panelo said further.
To address poverty in the country, Mr. Panelo said: “We must, as articulated by Sec. (Ernesto M.) Pernia of NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), sustain high economic growth that creates many jobs and reduce prices and inflation.”
“Our economic managers are vigorously pursuing policies and programs geared towards reducing the poverty level and propelling the country’s economic development to a degree satisfactory to the administration’s goal of not only giving our countrymen comfortable lives but putting our country at par with our fast developing industrialized Asian neighbors,” he said. — Arjay L. Balinbin