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According to the National Statistical Coordination Board
(NSCB), a family of five should have a combined monthly
income of at least P6,195 to exist.
Don’t
blame the NSCB; it’s just reporting figures. As some
wise cracks tend to verbalize, don’t shoot the
messenger; shoot the sheriff.
Blame
the voters for allowing themselves to be hoodwinked
every election time? But a vote is almost a day’s
earning for a hungry family any which way you look at
it.
How can
anyone live decently with a P6,195 monthly income when
you have a family of five to be sheltered, fed and
clothed?
That’s a
miracle but not indeed. A peso less will be enough to
send them to hell.
More
miraculous
Quite
contrary, what is more miraculous is the ability of
dirty politicians to look clean in the eyes of the
hungry onlookers in the midst of a nationwide poverty
that is afflicting the nation.
This
season, expect some of them old guys (some are
relatively young, though) to point their magic wands to
the miracles of the economy they alone feel and enjoy.
They
will promise the poor education, houses, food and
medicine, except the promise of a well-lighted street
that can guide them to their narrow alleys at night when
the stalkers take over the community.
In the
capital region, according to the NSCB, life is harder
because a family of five needs to earn a combined income
of P265 a day.
Yet,
most people in this category miraculously survive, it
seems.
Arduous
task
The NSCB
describes it as “an arduous task in bringing the entire
family above the poverty line.” A survey recently said
that most Filipinos are now turning to prayers for a
miracle.
But
surviving in this jungle is already a miracle. You can
tell that to the working rich; they, too, are victims of
lawlessness. To them, the sidewalks are a no-man’s land
out there.
We
really should not blame the NSCB for the statistics. But
since the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
is part of the group, along with the Cabinet members,
maybe it’s about time the statistics are improved.
A P265
income a day is much below the minimum wage law and
certainly way below the threshold.
The
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should also
look at this revelation. After all, it’s almost Lent and
the Revelation, according to some, is sure to come.
Minimum
wage law
What the
combined P265 daily income shows is that husband and
wife are earning only about P132 or so a day.
Probably, the two of them are not employed; if they are,
their employers should be jailed for violating the
minimum wage law.
Explains
the NSCB: “On a general perspective, of the P14,866
annual per capita poverty threshold for 2007, P9,987 is
for food while the difference of P4,880 is for
nonfoods.”
Among
the provinces outside the capital region, the amount of
“an economically decent” lifestyle is highest in Abra
with an annual per capita poverty threshold of P18,058,
said the NSCB.
They are
followed by
Cavite,
Batangas, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Mt. Province, Nueva
Ecija, Davao del Norte and Benguet.
The
poorest (bottom 10) are Siquijor, Negros Oriental,
Cagayan, Zamboanga, Sibugay, Biliran, Romblon,
Leyte, Antique,
Cebu and Palawan.
To think
that among the country’s richest clans are in Negros,
Cagayan, Zamboanga, Leyte and Cebu.
E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph. |
