Poverty down in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Poverty incidence has dropped to 19.1 percent in the first six months of last year from 22.3 percent in the same period in 2012 amid the country’s economic growth, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said yesterday that 24.9 percent of Filipinos were considered poor based on their average income in the first semester of 2013, down from 27.9 percent during the same period in 2012.

This means that a poor family with five members needed a monthly additional income of P2,198 on the average to move out of poverty in 2013.

Poverty incidence is the proportion of people below the poverty line to the total population.

The country’s economic growth in the same period increased by 7.7 percent, and ended the year at a strong 7.2 percent in gross domestic product.

At the start of 2013, the underemployment rate stood at 20.9 percent, and improved to 17.9 percent at the start of the fourth quarter of the year.

The unemployment rate, however, worsened to 7.5 percent at the start of 2014, from 7.1 percent in the same month in 2013.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the marked reduction in poverty incidence was a reflection of correct and timely strategies.

“The remarkable improvement in the poverty incidence in the first half of 2013 is evidence that the Philippines’ development strategies are heading in the direction of inclusive growth,” he said.

The per capita family income for the first, second and third deciles posted growth rates of 12.3 percent, 8.4 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

Balisacan, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, said the faster growth of poor households’ income compared with the slower increase of basic commodity prices implies a robust increase in real incomes of the poor, which played a significant role in reducing poverty during the period.

The continued implementation of the government’s social programs, such as the conditional cash transfer (CCT), helped improve the welfare of a greater number of poor.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, which implements the program, adopted a convergence strategy in 2012, where CCT beneficiary families benefited from the agency’s two other major programs, namely the KALAHI-CIDSS and the Sustainable Livelihood Program.

“These three major programs provide support and capacity-building at the levels of both families and communities, and therefore address the major constraints faced by the poor, such as inadequate community infrastructure, lack of finance capital and low quality of human capital,” said Balisacan.

He underscored the need to sustain the decline in poverty incidence over the next years through continued and aggressive implementation of programs resulting in sustained economic growth and reduction of poverty in all its dimensions.