ACCORDING to the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) the incidence of poverty in the Philippines in 2014 was 25.8 percent. This includes individuals earning less than P1,755 a month or a family of five earning less than P8,778 a month.
This begs the question: If only one-fourth of our population lives in poverty, does that mean that three-fourths do not?
Noted economist and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had something to say about that in a piece he wrote in Business World in March last year, referring to the poverty threshold set for 2012:
“The real poverty picture may be worse than what the official statistics suggest. In 2012, the poverty threshold was P18,935 per year, P1,578 per month, or P52.60 per day. That’s the height of absurdity! I challenge public officials to survive on P52.60 per day for even a week.”
For those residing in the US, it is not easy to appreciate the relative value of what people earn in the Philippines. Conceivably, because of the much lower cost of living here, what may appear to be meager minimum wage earnings locally can actually buy more goods and services than the minimum wage in the US.
It was in this context that I took note of Diokno’s commentary and decided to probe this issue further. What, in fact, is the true picture of poverty in our country?
Our home in Parañaque happens to be right across the creek from a squatters’ area (pardon me, I mean, an informal settlement) called Creek Drive. Thus, I have easy access to the pulse of non-rich folks.
I hesitate to refer to them as “poor” because of the government’s definition of poverty.
We have known many of the squatters (oops, informal settlers) in Creek Drive for years. Before they called the place by that name, they used our home address for their correspondence. Letters from the province were delivered through us by the post office. My former ad agency driver, Jun, built a shanty and raised a family there. He now makes a living driving his own tricycle.
Jun earns from P800 to P1,000 a day from plying his tricycle route. That’s a monthly income of over P20,000, for himself alone, not counting that of his wife who is a grade school teacher and that of his son, also a tricycle driver. In other words, they are well above the poverty threshold, as defined by the economic managers.
But recently, Jun developed a lung infection and couldn’t drive his tricycle. Not covered by Philhealth and without any savings to afford medicine, his health deteriorated. Fortunately, being close to the family, we gave him some financial assistance and he managed to get medical treatment. He is recovering now and could be well on the way to once again being “non-poor” (a term used by government numbers crunchers).
But even if Jun and his family manage to stay above the official poverty line, he is painfully aware that they are, in truth, poor and are vulnerable to the ravages of cruel circumstances — no matter what the economic managers say.
Randy, a relative, earns P17,800 a month as a truck driver for a tire company and his wife Kaye makes P11,500 a month as a department store sales girl. They live rent-free in quarters above our garage (the living area is as large as an apartment and more spacious than a condominium studio). Because they don’t have to pay rent and they only have one child, who is in the grades, they are technically almost middle income, based on the classification of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). They certainly are well above the government-defined poverty threshold.
But don’t tell that to the couple. After the usual deductions from their pay slips and considering the cost of transportation, food and utilities, they have very little left on payday and hardly anything set aside for emergencies. And when their daughter graduates from high school, it will be a struggle sending her to college.
Nene does our laundry once a week and also services several homes in the subdivision. For her labors, she earns over P10,000 a month. Based on the government’s definition of poverty, Nene is not poor. But when her mother fell ill and needed oxygen, she couldn’t afford the cost of one that was mechanized and had to make do with manual pumping. That was not good enough to save her mother’s life.
Whatever the economic managers might say, Nene rues the fact that her mother would still be alive, if they were not, in fact, poor.
Grace, a niece whom my wife and I are sending to nursing school, gave me interesting findings derived by her class from households in a slum area in San Dionisio, a barangay in Parañaque. The survey was part of their course requirement.
Out of 54 families interviewed, 24 earn below the official poverty threshold. The rest technically qualify as non-poor because they earn above P11,000 a month. But try telling them that they are not poor and they will think you are being sarcastic.
Frankly, the government statistics are an exercise in denial and delusion. But the people are not being fooled. They know that they are poor. They can see it in the faces of their children whom they cannot afford to send to school. They can feel it in their empty stomachs and in the ailments that they must suffer because they cannot afford health care.
Those living in Mindanao and the rural areas know that they are even more impoverished than the government will acknowledge. And they are keenly aware that all the talk about a booming economy does not include them and is mainly benefiting the wealthy few.
With the presidential elections only a few months away, the candidates have begun to woo the electorate in earnest. And, as suitors always do, they are all promising to make life more blissful for the Filipino masses and the future brighter for their children.
Three of the candidates have enunciated their main appeals to the voters in relatively clear terms, with the bottom line being a happier, more contented citizenry and a more progressive Philippines.
Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas is waving the flag of economic gains through clean governance, expressed as “Tuwid na Daan” (or Straight Path). Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is vowing to create a progressive Philippines by killing criminals and stamping out corruption in government. Vice President Jejomar Binay is focusing on poverty and is promising to solve it by creating jobs and income opportunities for everyone, not just the rich.
The two other candidates, Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, are vaguely promising all or most of the above without really underscoring their primary pitch.
Which promise will resonate most effectively with the masses? The residents of Creek Drive and San Dionisio have this to say:
“Lahat ng pangako nila ay maganda. Pero alin ba ang magiging laman ng sikmura?”
Translation: “All the promises are good. But which one can fill our stomach?” ([email protected])
