Many Pinoys going hungry despite drop in poverty incidence, claims IBON

Despite a decline in Philippine poverty incidence last year – compared with a year earlier – many Filipino families could barely afford to meet their basic food needs, according to a development think tank.

 

Marites Lagao, mother of a young child and three months pregnant, finds herself and her family enduring pangs of hunger for days on end as she could not afford to buy food.

 

"Minsan po nangangamba ako kasi wala akong nakakain. Gusto ko man kumain ng masustansya, wala po ako magawa," she said in a report on GMA News' "Saksi."

 

Lagao and her husband, Lito, collect plastic and metal throwaways and sell what they had gathered to a junk shop, the report noted. The money they make is largely spent on food, it added.

 

IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa claimed the government may have "low standards" in determining the poverty incidence in the country.

 

"Para sa gobyerno, kung may P52 sa isang araw – nakakabili lamang iyan ng isang kilong bigas at apat na pandesal –  hindi ka na mahirap," he said in the same report.

 

Annual Poverty Indicator Survey (APIS) findings showed that 24.9 percent of Filipinos were considered poor – based on their average income in the first semester of 2013 –  down from 27.9 percent in the same period in 2012.

 

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said this development means the family poverty incidence declined to 19.1 percent from 22.3 percent.

 

On the other hand, a recent Social Weather Stations survey indicated that the hunger rate in the country has also declined to 19.5 percent in 2013, down from 19.9 percent in 2012, Saksi reported.

 

However, Africa noted prices of commodities continue to rise and that may impact on the living condition of many Filipinos.

 

"Across the board 'yung pagtaas ng mga bilihin nitong unang semestre, at lahat 'yan magpapatong-patong at talagang mahahatak pababa ang kalagayan sa buhay," he said.

 

According to an IBON survey, around three of every five Filipinos have had difficulty buying enough food for the past three months.

 

IBON Foundation said its survey of 1,500 respondents from April 24 to 30 showed 59.3 percent claimed having difficulty buying food during that period. – Amanda Fernandez/VS, GMA News