NEDA: Marcos admin still optimistic about hitting 2028 poverty reduction goal

The Marcos administration is confident that reducing poverty incidence in the Philippines to a single digit will be achieved by the end of its term in 2028, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Thursday.

Balisacan made the statement after a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll showed that 48%, or 13.2 million Filipino families, rated themselves poor in September, up from 45%, or 12.5 million households, in June.

Of the 13.2 million families, 1.8 million, or 6.6%, considered themselves “newly poor,” while 1.7 million, or 6.1%, viewed their economic situation as “usually poor,” and 9.7 million, or 35.3%, rated themselves “always poor.

In a statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Balisacan said the government remains focused on its priority to reduce poverty incidence among Filipinos “through various strategies and a whole-of-society approach.”

“Given these strategies and our whole-of-society approach, we are optimistic that we can still reduce poverty incidence among Filipinos to 9% by 2028,” the NEDA chief said.

The country's poverty incidence was 18.1%, or almost 20 million Filipinos, in 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Balisacan said the government is implementing, for the short term, several measures to provide immediate assistance to those in need, including the rollout of the food stamp program, the removal of pass-through fees for vehicles transporting goods, and the distribution of cash aid through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program, specifically targeting the poorest individuals.

The NEDA added that the administration prioritizes policies and programs aimed at generating more and higher-quality jobs, as this is the most robust and effective approach to reducing poverty.

“This will involve expanding our markets, improving our infrastructure, and attracting more strategic investments, while also preparing the workforce with the necessary skills for the jobs that will be created,” Balisacan said.

He said that the Marcos administration has also implemented measures to boost investments in the country, such as “ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, establishing green lanes for strategic investments, and streamlining project approval procedures, among others.”

“Moreover, we will pursue programs to modernize agriculture, improve productivity, and enhance the linkage to markets,” he said.

The non-commissioned SWS survey was conducted from September 28 to October 1, 2023.

“We note that the SWS September survey was conducted after a series of typhoons hit the country, which also affected food prices and directly impacted families who lacked the means to cope with the increase in prices,” Balisacan said.

“As we noted earlier, poverty measures based on respondents’ perceptions are sensitive to inflation, particularly for essential commodities. Food inflation in September was higher than in June this year due to the supply disruptions,” he said.

Inflation, which measures the rate of increase in prices of consumer goods and services, grew faster at 6.1% in September from 5.3% in August as food and transport costs weighed on prices.

Food inflation, which tracks price movements in a “basket” of foods commonly purchased by households, grew to 10% from 8.2% in the preceding month and was also faster than September 2022's 7.7%.

The main culprit for the faster food inflation was rice, which saw a double-digit inflation rate of 17.9%, its fastest since March 2009, when it hit 22.9%.

A recent Pulse Asia survey also revealed that rising inflation is the most pressing concern among Filipinos, with 74% of the population saying they are concerned about the need to control the rising prices of basic commodities. —VBL, GMA Integrated News