BY WENDELL VIGILIA

THE number of Filipino families who consider themselves poor has risen to 59 percent from 50 percent in the first quarter of the year, the second quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations showed.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from June 27-30, showed 59 percent or 10.6 million Filipinos call themselves poor, 24 percent believe they are in the "borderline" and 17 percent rate themselves as "not poor."

SWS noted that the self-rated poverty rate is nine points higher than the 50 percent or 9 million recorded in the first quarter, and 13 points above the previous low of 46 percent of 8.1 million in December 2007, "thus wiping out the decline in self-rated poverty to its 20-year low in 2007 mentioned in President Arroyo's state of the nation address last July 28th."

The survey said 49 percent of these families or some 8.8 million consider themselves as "food-poor" while 26 percent put themselves on the "food-borderline" and 25 percent consider themselves as "not food-poor."

SWS said the new self-rated food poverty is nine points higher than the 40 percent or some 7.1 million recorded in March 2008 and 15 points above the all-time low of 34 percent or 6.1 million in December 2007.

In all of the areas, the Visayas suffered the steepest rise in poverty with the self-rated poverty rising by 19 points, from 47 percent last March to 66 percent in June, the same level as September 2006.

In Mindanao, self-rated poverty rose by 9 points from 59 percent to 68 percent; Metro Manila by 7 points (44 to 51 percent), and Balance Luzon by 5 points (48 to 53 percent).

The rate also rose by 12 points in urban areas (43 to 55 percent), or much more sharply than the 6-point increase in rural areas, 58 to 64 percent.

Self-rated food poverty also rose most sharply in the Visayas, from 32 percent in March to 53 percent in June, or by 21 points, the survey said.

The results said the rate rose by 8 points in Metro Manila (35 to 43 percent), by 7 points in Mindanao (50 to 57 percent), and 5 points in Balance Luzon (39 to 44 percent).

SLUGGISH

The survey also found out that the self-rated poverty threshold, or the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor in general, "has been sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation."

"This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards or belt-tightening," it said.

The survey said the median poverty threshold in Metro Manila for the poor households was P10,000 in June 2008, even if it had already reached as high as P15,000 several times in the past.

For those in Balance Luzon, the median poverty threshold in June is P6,000 from the previous P10,000 while it is P7,500 in the Visayas and P7,000 in Mindanao. Median poverty threshold in the Visayas and Mindanao was previously P10,000.

The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households in June 2008 are P5,000 in Metro Manila, P4,000 in Balance Luzon, P4,300 in the Visayas, and only P3,500 in Mindanao. These levels were reached several years ago.

A THROWBACK

SWS noted that in Metro Manila, the median poverty threshold is still P10,000 as in the year 2000, even though the consumer price index (CPI) has since risen in the NCR by 57 percent.

The NCR median poverty threshold of P10,000 per month for June 2008 is equivalent to only P6,369 purchasing power in 2000, after a deflation of the CPI.

"The deflated poverty threshold for NCR of below P7,000 per month is a throwback to living standards of 20 years ago," SWS said.

The survey further noted that in four surveys in 2000, the base year of the CPI, the median SWS poverty threshold for NCR was already P10,000 per month, equivalent to P15,700 per month in the June 2008 cost of living, given the CPI of 157.0.

"The difference of P15,700-P10,000 = P5,700 between the thresholds of 2000 and June 2008 measures the extent of belt-tightening that took place," it explained.

On the other hand, SWS said, median food poverty threshold of P5,000 in Metro Manila is equivalent to only P3,369 in base year 2000 purchasing power for food.

SWS said the median food poverty threshold in December 2000, P6,000 for Metro Manila, is equivalent to P8,904 per month in the June 2008 cost of food, given the latest CPI of 148.4 for food items.