Filipinos join Asians in commemorating Poverty Day

 MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Thousands of Filipinos joined an international campaign to end global poverty Wednesday by standing up and making a symbolic pledge in the world's most populous region, where more than 640 million live on less than US$1 (?0.70) a day.

The pledge in part rejects excuses that allow 50,000 people to die every day because of extreme poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor. It urges government leaders to save the lives of the poorest citizens, tackle inequality, govern fairly, fight corruption and fulfill human rights.

The "Stand Up, Speak Out" pledge is part of the U.N. campaign to promote the Millennium Development Goals that include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and ensuring a sustainable environment by 2015.

The Asia-Pacific region had more than 1 billion people living on less than US$1 a day in 1990, but that number has now dropped to 641 million and is likely to be cut in half by 2015, according to an Asian Development Bank-U.N. report released last week.

China has made the biggest headway, with one in three Chinese living in poverty in 1990, compared to one in 10 today, the report said. But other countries were lagging behind, among them the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.