1 sa 5 pamilyang Pinoy mahirap - NSCB

MANILA, Philippines – Isa sa bawat limang pamilyang Pilipino sa bansa ay mahirap noong 2012, ayon sa National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

Sinabi ng NSCB na bahagyang bumaba sa 19.7 percent ang poverty incidence mula sa 21 at 20.5 percent noong 2006 at 2009.

Nakabase ang resulta ng kahirapan mula sa Family Income and Expenditure Survey na ginagawa ng National Statistics Office na tuwing tatlong taon lamang ginagawa.

Pero kahit bumabab ang poverty incidence ay tumaas pa rin ang bilang ng mahihirap sa Pilipinas dahil sa paglobo ng populasyon.

"Although the proportion of poor families has been practically similar between 2006 and 2012, on account of the country’s growing population, the estimated number of poor families has risen from 3.8 million in 2006 to 4.2 million in 2012," paliwanag ng NSCB.

Tinatayang aabot sa 94 milyon at 102 milyon ang bilang ng tao sa bansa sa pagitan ng taong 2010 at 2015, dagdag nila.

Sinabi pa ng NCSB na noong 2012 ay kinakailangan ng isang pamilyang may limang miyembro ng P5,513 upang matustusan ang mga pangunahing pangangailangan sa loob ng isang buwan. Masasabing wala sa kahirapan ang isang pamilya kung kaya nitong gumastos ng P7,890 kada buwan.

Nasa 7.5 percent ang bilang ng mga pamilyang nasa “extreme poverty” noong 2012 mas mababa kumpara sa 8.8 percent noong 2006.

"In 2012, on the average, incomes of poor families are short by 26.2 percent of the poverty threshold. This means that a poor family with five members needed a monthly additional income of PhP 2,067 to move out of poverty in 2012," dagdag ng NSCB.

Samantala, sinabi ng National Economic and Development Authority na maituturing na “work in progress” ang pagsugpo sa kahirapan kahit mabagal ang pagbaba nito.

"At the regional level, 13 out of 17 regions across the country experienced a reduction in poverty incidence in 2012 compared to 2009. The brightest spot is the region of CARAGA, dropping a remarkable 14.2 percentage points in poverty incidence among families. This marked improvement reflects the impact on poverty of CARAGA’s robust growth of 10.6 percent in 2012, the second fastest gross regional domestic product growth among all regions, coming from an 8.5 percent growth in 2011," pahayag ni NEDA Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Sa kabilang banda, isinisisi ng NEDA sa pagtama ng kalamidad at mabagal na pag-usbong ng ekonomiya ang pagdami ng mahihirap sa : SOCCSKSARGEN (XII), the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Eastern Visayas (VIII) at National Capital Region.

"From 2010 to 2012, there were about eight typhoons that have brought tremendous damages and losses in terms infrastructure and economic activity. Disasters like these have profound effects on the local economies and recovery usually takes an even longer time. These also signal the need for an urgent and deliberate focus on disaster risk reduction and mitigation for these areas, coupled with social insurance protection and income diversification," sabi ni Balicasan.

Ginagamit ng gobyerno ang mga proyektong tulad ng Pantawid Pamilya Program, the Community-Based Employment Program, at Sustainable Livelihood Program upang sugpuin ang kahirapan, dagdag niya.