Government measures helped manage poverty levels

MANILA, Philippines — Measures taken by the government against rising inflation, including the provision of targeted subsidies, have helped manage the country’s poverty levels in September, Malacañang claimed yesterday.

At the same time, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan addressed the slight increase in self-rated poverty based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll saying it was “expected, given the acceleration of inflation, particularly in food and transport” during the period.

The SWS survey conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 showed 49 percent of Filipino families rating themselves as poor, slightly up from 48 percent in June; 29 percent as borderline from 31 percent and 21 percent as not poor, same as the rating in June.

Balisacan said the increase in self-rated poverty could have been higher if the Marcos administration had not further opened up the economy or failed at the distribution of targeted subsidies for low-income households, public utility drivers and the farming and fishery sectors.

The NEDA chief noted that inflation has been coming partly from external factors, including global supply disruptions caused by the Ukraine-Russia war, adding that these factors have also induced higher prices in neighboring Asian countries.

“Moving forward, we need to speed up providing financial assistance to the poor (and) most vulnerable groups, implementing our food production enhancement programs and executing timely food importation,” said Balisacan in a statement released by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).

Balisacan also clarified that the self-rated poverty estimates as presented by SWS in its September report are not comparable with the government’s official poverty estimates based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) surveys.

Earlier, President Marcos allayed concerns about soaring inflation rates, noting that the overall inflation forecast for the Philippines is still better than other countries.

“We may have to defend the peso in the coming months, but the overall forecast is that we are still doing better than other countries in terms of inflation, though economic developments are still anticipated,” Marcos said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its Asian Development Outlook 2022 update, forecasts inflation in the country at 5.3 percent in 2022 and 4.3 percent in 2023.

In Southeast Asia, the ADB expects 2022 inflation in Lao People’s Democratic Republic to grow by 17 percent, Myanmar at 16 percent and Timor-Leste at 7.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the ADB expects the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 6.5 percent in 2022 and 6.3 percent in 2023.

The latest Pulse Asia survey, meanwhile, showed that a significant number of Filipinos are unhappy with how Marcos is handling the country’s inflation woes.

The nationwide poll, conducted from Sept. 17 to 21, showed 42 percent of 1,200 adult respondents disapproved of the government’s performance in controlling inflation, while 31 percent said otherwise.

Earlier, Balisacan explained that essential commodities and inputs for food value chains are experiencing substantial supply constraints due to the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the series of natural calamities that have dampened agricultural production in many countries, including the Philippines.

He said inflation has remained persistently high globally, driven by rapid price increases in food, transportation and energy.