NEDA: P279 daily food need only a metric in determining poverty

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Friday clarified that the amount it used to identify how much a family needs to afford basic food requirements is not meant to determine how comfortable the families’ living conditions are.

In an interview on state-run PTV’s Public Briefing, NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said that the Philippines Statistics Authority’s (PSA) estimate that a family of five would need at least P8,379 per month or P279 a day to meet the basic food requirements of three meals a day is only a metric to determine who are poor.

“Ibig sabihin lang po is kung ‘yung kita mo (This means that if your income) will not even be able to afford that ay talaga po poorest of the poor kayo (you are really among the poorest of the poor),” Edillon said.

“Wala po kaming ginagawang judgment as to komportable ba 'yung nagiging buhay. Sa pagkakataya po ng ating nutritionists, ito 'yung amount you need so that you are able meet 'yung basic requirements: recommended daily allowance for energy and then also for micronutrients," she added.

(We are not making any judgement as to how comfortable life can be. Based on our nutritionists’ estimates, this is the amount you need so that you are able meet the basic requirements: recommended daily allowance for energy and then also for micronutrients.)

Last Monday, the PSA reported that the country’s poverty incidence was at 18.1% in 2021, up from 16.7% in 2018 and higher than the target range of 15.5% to 17.5%. 

This translates to 19.99 million poor Filipinos, up from 17.67 million recorded in 2018, who live below the poverty threshold of P12,030 per month —the amount needed by a family of five to afford basic needs.

Poverty incidence is defined by the PSA as the proportion of Filipinos whose per capita income cannot sufficiently meet the individual basic food and non-food needs.

The subsistence incidence — the proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to meet even just the basic food needs — also increased to 5.9% in 2021 from 5.2% in 2018.

This is equivalent to 6.55 million Filipinos below the poverty line, up from 5.54 million in 2018.

The latest figures indicate that among families, around 3.50 million or 13.2% were considered poor in the past year, as a family of five would need at least P8,379 per month to meet the basic food requirements.

Despite the high poverty incidence figures, the NEDA official said the government is optimistic that it can achieve its target of 9% poverty incidence by 2028.

“We have seven years na maiahon roughly around eight to nine million ng mga kababayan natin sa kahirapan,” Edillon said.

(We have seven years to lift our fellow Filipinos from poverty.)

The NEDA official said the Philippines has to begin its high growth trajectory by fully reopening the economy as well as boosting the vaccination and booster shots campaign.

“We expect by mid-term, makapag pakita na ng malaking reduction ing poverty incidence sa kalagitnaan ng panunungkulan ni Presidente,” she said.

(We expect by the middle of the President’s term, we will be seeing a significant reduction in poverty incidence.)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is looking to end his term with a single-digit poverty rate of 9% and upgrade the country’s status to an “upper-middle income” economy by 2024 with “at least $4,256 income per capita.” —LBG, GMA News