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GOVERNMENT agency has admitted the minimum wage of P362
a day is not enough to meet the basic needs of families
in the National Capital Region (NCR), even if a P20
increase in wages will be implemented on June 14.
National
Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Executive Director
Romulo Virola told reporters there is still a high
possibility that oil prices will continue to increase
before and after the additional P20 is implemented in
June, making the new minimum wage of P382 insufficient
to meet the needs of Filipinos.
Based on
the NSCB’s rough estimates, Virola said the poverty
threshold for a family of five is P343 a day and the
food threshold is P197 a day this year in the NCR. This
estimate, the NSCB head said, only incorporated the
13.61-percent increase in inflation and 50-percent
increase in rice prices between 2006 and 2008.
“Yes,
the minimum wage is not enough [because] I’m almost
certain that oil prices will increase between now and
June 14,” Virola said.
Based on
Virola’s estimates, the monthly poverty threshold for a
family of five is already at P10,442, while the food
threshold for a family of five is P5,995. This
translates to an annual poverty threshold for a family
of five of P125,300 and annual food threshold of
P71,935.
The
example of an average food menu for Filipino families in
the NCR includes tomato omelet, fried rice and coffee or
milk for breakfast; fried galunggong, sautéed mongo with
small shrimp and malunggay leaves, steamed rice and
banana (latundan) for lunch; and pork adobo, sautéed
pechay and steamed rice for dinner. The agency said that
for snacks, the common menu is pan de sal with
margarine.
Virola
said that to come up with this one-day menu meant that
the daily grocery budget for one person includes 350
grams of white ordinary rice, 50 grams of pan de sal, 15
grams of white sugar, 5 grams of margarine, 20 grams of
cooking oil, 33 grams of evaporated milk, 23 grams of
chicken egg, 15 grams of small shrimps, 49 grams of
galunggong, 5 grams of pork liver, 15 grams of pork
liempo, 10 grams of mongo, 30 grams of tomatoes, 32
grams of native pechay, 18 grams of malunggay leaves, 68
grams of banana (latundan), 5 grams of coconut vinegar,
6 grams of onion, 1 gram of garlic, 5 grams of soy
sauce, 6 grams of salt and 1 gram of instant coffee.
The NSCB
chief said the above budget was based on the Food and
Nutrition Research Institute data.
Further,
the NSCB said that using an annual 8-percent increase in
income, there are now 37,905 families (189,525
individuals) who are classified as food poor. Using a
10-percent increase in annual income, on the other hand,
will result in 28,923 families being classified under
this category.
Meanwhile, using an 8-percent and 10-percent increase in
annual income, the number of poor families will now be
294,118 and 259,135, respectively.
Earlier,
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)
Director General Augusto Santos said the increase in oil
prices, particularly Dubai crude, is likely to continue
due to the tight supply and high demand due to the high
economic growth achieved, particularly in the second
half of 2007.
On the
domestic front, pump prices have also followed suit and
increased prices. Just last week, oil companies
increased gasoline prices by P1.50 and liquefied
petroleum gas by P3.50.
In a
simulation earlier provided by the Neda, a $200-a-barrel
oil price will push up full year inflation to 9.3
percent and even cut economic growth to 5.3 percent this
year.
Further,
if the price of
Dubai crude oil reaches and stays at $200, adjustments by
industries and utilities will require poorest families
to cough up an additional P2,269 to meet their basic
needs.
Santos
said families belonging to the sixth or middle-income
families will also become vulnerable to experiencing a
shortage in their incomes if oil prices go beyond $200 a
barrel. |
