Bayan leader slams P10,481 poverty threshold

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes on Wednesday criticized the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) recent estimation that P10,481 was enough for a family of five to meet both basic food and non-food needs for a month during the first semester of 2018.

"Tanong ng marami, saan at paano? Napakababa namang poverty threshold nito. May P11,000 ka, hindi ka kasama sa mahihirap?" Reyes said in a statement sent to GMA News Online.

"Nakakabuhay ba ang P10,481 para sa limang tao sa isang buwan? Nasubukan na kaya ito ng PSA?" he added.

In a post on his Facebook account, he asked the PSA for a break-down that would show that the amount would be sufficient for the monthly needs of a family of five: "Saan bang lugar ito na tila mura ang mga bilihin? Nasubukan nyo na ba mabuhay sa P70 kada araw?" he said.

In a press conference announcing poverty incidence for the first half of 2018, the PSA announced that poverty incidence among Filipino individuals declined to 21 percent in 2018 from 27.6 percent during the same period in 2015.

For Reyes, the decrease in the poverty incidence does not make any sense because of the PSA's P10,481 poverty threshold.

"Parang walang kabuluhan ang sinasabing nabawasan ang bilang ng mahihirap kung ganito pala kababa ang pamantayan ng mahihirap," he added.

The PSA, however, said that when a family of five has P10,481 per month, it means that it can buy basic food and non-food needs for that month. But it does not mean that the family is not poor.

"Pag below doon, 'yun 'yung sinasabi namin na nasa poverty. Hindi namin sinasabi na porket may P10,000 ka eh hindi ka na mahirap. Pero kumakain ka. Nabili mo 'yung basic food mo,"said PSA Assistant Secretary Josie Perez. — BM, GMA News