Bayan says 'redefining poverty' will not make it go away

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Wednesday criticized the government's new individual threshold of P64 for three daily meals to not be considered "food poor" in the country.

"NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) should try living on P64 per day for food for a year, before coming up with conclusions that such an amount does not make a person food poor. The Marcos regime is so out of touch with reality," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said in a statement.

"This is the kind of thinking that keeps wages low and covers up poverty in the country. Redefining poverty will not make it go away," he added.

GMA News Online sought comment from NEDA on Bayan's statement but it has yet to respond as of posting time.

During the first day of the Senate hearing on the proposed 2025 budget on Tuesday, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan was asked the current threshold for one to be classified as "food poor."

"As of 2023, a monthly food threshold for a family of five is P9,581. It comes out about P64 per person," Balisacan said, adding that the amount would cover three daily meals per person.

This amount has increased since 2021 where the "food poor" threshold was P55 per person and it is expected to increase to P67 in 2025, according to the NEDA chief.

Balisacan said they are only changing the threshold based on inflation so they can monitor if the policies of the government on poverty are effective.

"The reason we are keeping it constant, in real terms after adjusting for inflation, is just to ensure that we are tracking properly the changes and allow us to understand whether our policies, our programs are working insofar as these are able to reduce poverty," he said.

This prompted the senators to urge the NEDA to review their threshold to ensure that the poverty forecast is accurate.

"There are certain things that need to be constant, but there are certain things that have to be adjusted because when you compute poverty thresholds using an old number which is obviously not workable anymore, P20 per meal, eh hindi totoo 'yung poverty forecast (P20 per meal means your poverty forecast is not true)," Senator Grace Poe said.

Balisacan agreed that it is about time to revisit their threshold.

Philippine Statistics Authority chief Claire Dennis Mapa explained that the government arrived at the threshold "after costing the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (prepared by nutritionist) that will give the required energy and nutrients."

The sample breakfast was composed of scrambled egg, coffee with milk, and boiled rice or corn mix.

For lunch, the sample was boiled monggo with malunggay and dried dilis, banana, and boiled rice or corn mix.

For dinner, the sample food bundle consisted of fried fish or boiled pork, vegetable dish, and boiled rice or corn mix. — VDV, GMA Integrated News