IBON Media Release / 10 February 2011
IBON Foundation, Inc., IBON Center 114 Timog Avenue , Quezon City Philippines
Phone: (632) 927-6986/927-7060 to 62|Fax: 929-2496| E-mail: media@ibon.org | http://www.ibon.org
NEW POVERTY METHODOLOGY REDUCES NUMBER OF POOR BY 5.3 MILLION
Poverty line now pegged at just PhP46 a day
Research group IBON questions the new methodology of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), saying that it significantly reduces the number of poor Filipinos by some 5.3 million.
The approved revisions reflected in the NSCB’s methodology for estimating poverty places the number of poor Filipinos to just 23.1 million in 2009. If the original methodology was consistently used, the number of poor should have been 28.5 million in 2009, which means that the new methodology effectively reduces the number of poor by 5.3 million without really improving the poverty situation. It would also show that the number of poor Filipinos increased by 850,000 from 2006 to 2009.
The NSCB has done this by pegging the official poverty threshold, or the amount supposedly necessary for a toler ab le standard of living, at just PhP46 per person per day instead of PhP52 per person per day if the old methodology was used.
This implies that a Filipino on average needs just PhP46 a day to meet all of his or her food and non-food needs. Basic needs include food, education, clothing and footwear, medical care, transportation and communication, fuel, light and water, housing, housing maintenance, furnishings, household operations, personal care and effects, and rental.
It must be stressed that the old methodology estimate of 28.5 million poor Filipinos in 2009 is still a likely low estimate because it assumes that a Filipino needs just P52 per day to stay out of poverty.
According to IBON, improvements to scientific methodologies are welcome but the new methodology seems unresponsive and detached to everyday realities. The group adds that it is better to err on the side of conservatism rather than paint an overly optimistic picture especially in the case of the Philippines which has seen rapid growth amid rising joblessness and low incomes. (end)
IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution est ab lished in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.
IBON Media Release / 9 February 2011
IBON Foundation, Inc., IBON Center 114 Timog Avenue , Quezon City Philippines
Phone: (632) 927-6986/927-7060 to 62|Fax: 929-2496| E-mail: media@ibon.org | http://www.ibon.org
Use of ‘least cost’ food bundle questioned
NEW POVERTY METHODOLOGY DETACHED FROM REAL SITUATION
Research group IBON criticizes government’s new poverty methodology as unreflective of the real situation of poor Filipinos, saying that the adjustments made on the already-flawed methodology has further distorted the picture of poverty in the country.
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) yesterday released official poverty figures based on adjustments on the poverty estimation methodology, which the agency approved early this month. The new method supposedly estimates a food bundle, which is important because some three-fifths of the income of the poorest half of the population is spent on just food.
However, the estimates are based on a “least cost” food bundle, which the research group says may not be avail ab le to most Filipinos. This bundle apparently also relies on “revealed preference” which seems to mean that it reflects actual spending, but may be a pattern of spending not so much by choice but rather forced on Filipinos who adjust their spending according to their poverty.
Moreover, the revised methodology now pegs the official poverty threshold, or the amount supposedly necessary for a toler ab le standard of living, at just PhP46 per person per day in 2009. This is lower than what would have been a national poverty line of PhP52 according to the old methodology, and effectively reduces the number of poor by 5.32 million without really improving the poverty situation. If the original methodology was consistently used this would show that the number of poor Filipinos increased from 2006 by 850,000 to 28.5 million in 2009. It must be stressed that this is still a likely low estimate and assumes that a Filipino needs just P52 per day to stay out of poverty.
The research group says it is also disappointing that the government will only generate parallel estimates according to the old and new methodologies for just three years. This will make poverty estimates over time even more incompar ab le aside from, perhaps intentionally, giving the impression that poverty has been markedly decreasing. IBON also asks how the new methodology will affect the formulation of future poverty alleviation programs, especially amid rising prices and joblessness.
The government should cut poverty by increasing the incomes of Filipinos instead of reducing the poverty threshold. This is a similar situation to the change in the definition of unemployment in April 2005 under the previous Arroyo administration which statistically reduces the number of unemployed by some 1.5 million and the unemployment rate by around 3.6 percentage points without actually reducing the number of jobless Filipinos. (end)
IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution est ab lished in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.
