A poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations found that nearly half of Filipino families considered themselves poor as the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte wound down.
Conducted from June 26 to 29, the poll said 48 percent of Filipino families rated themselves poor, up from 43 percent in April.
The June survey showed that 31 percent of households considered themselves borderline poor while 21 percent felt they were not poor. In April, 34 percent of Filipino families rated themselves borderline poor, and 23 percent rated themselves not poor.
“The estimated numbers of self-rated poor families are 12.2 million in June 2022 and 10.9 million in April 2022,” SWS said. It added the increase in nationwide self-rated poor was due to increases in Visayas and Mindanao.
The same survey also found 34 percent of families rating themselves as food-poor. Compared to April 22, the proportion of food-poor families increased from 31 percent, with an estimated 8.7 million food-poor families in June.
Of the estimated 12.2 million self-rated poor households in June, 2.2 million were newly poor, 1.6 million were usually poor, and 8.4 million were always poor. Meanwhile, of the 13.3 million self-rated non-poor families, 5.3 million were newly non-poor, 3 million were usually non-poor, and 5 million were always non-poor.
Poverty numbers, whether or not self-rated, is always in flux in a developing country like the Philippines, especially one that is still reeling from the debilitating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. As the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. takes over, the goal is the same as it was during when Rodrigo Duterte was in charge: the poverty reduction efforts of the government have to be felt by the people who have been living their lives either deeply mired in poverty or spent constantly flitting and out of the dreaded poverty line.
The 48 percent of Filipino families who rated themselves poor in June are certainly hoping that they can give a better rating of their status in life in the coming months and years.*
