Self-rated poverty, hunger down in Q3 —OCTA poll

Fewer Filipino families rated themselves poor and hungry in the third quarter of 2023, according to the recent Tugon ng Masa survey by OCTA Research.

The survey, conducted from September 30 to October 4, stated that 46% of respondents or 12.1 million Filipino families considered themselves poor for the third quarter of 2023. The figure was 4% lower than the second quarter survey result of 50% or 13.2 million families.

The decrease was mostly prominent in Balance Luzon, whose rates went down from 46% to 37%, while Visayas had the highest percentage of Filipinos who considered themselves poor at 59%.

The same trend was observed in the self-rated hunger, which recorded a 5% decrease from July’s 15% (3.9 million families) to the latest 10% (2.6 million families).

Majority of these families were in the Visayas at 13%, closely followed by Balance Luzon at 11%.

“[This] is the first time in three quarters that a dip in self-rated poverty… [and] self-rated hunger was observed,” OCTA said

OCTA also said 43% or 11.3 million families considered themselves food-poor, and that the median amount the reported families needed for home expenses would be around P33,000 every month.

Meanwhile, over 26% of adult Filipinos believe that the state of hunger in the country has worsened, while only 11% said that it has improved.

“The percentage of adult Filipinos who say that the state of hunger has improved is highest in Visayas (30%) compared to all other major areas,” OCTA said.

The non-commissioned survey data was gathered from face-to-face interviews of over 1,200 male and female respondents aged 18 and above, accounting for a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.

Following this, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said a big factor that contributed to the rate drops were government intervention measures, adding they would “continue efforts to ease poverty and hunger among the population.”

“We should all welcome and be happy about this piece of good news. It means that the intervention programs of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., supported by the legislature, principally the House of Representatives, are working,” he said.

“I believe that the improvement in the poverty numbers reflect the trickle-down effect of economic expansion, though we often say growth is not tangibly felt by our people. But somehow, they benefitted from it, because growth means more economic activities and additional income and job opportunities for our people. We are committed to do all we can to improve the situation and make life better for our people,” he added. —KBK, GMA Integrated News