Malacañang on Wednesday said the Duterte administration “continues to break barriers” following a first quarter survey that showed a drop in self-rated poverty score to a record low of 38 percent, or about 9.5 million families.
The survey said the new self-rated poverty score represents a “continuing recovery” from the 10-point rise within the first three quarters of 2018.
The new record even surpassed the previous record low of 42 percent in September 2016 and March 2018. This is also 12 points below 50 percent or estimated 11.6 million families in December 2018.
All areas recorded declines in self-rated poverty, particularly Balance Luzon, Mindanao, Visayas, and Metro Manila.
“The Palace welcomes the continuous improving sentiment of Filipino families that no longer consider themselves poor,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a news statement.
“We underscore that self-rated poverty decreased in all geographic areas during the first quarter of 2019 and we thank everyone from the President’s economic managers, as well as the members of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster, to the social welfare officers and barangay health workers for tirelessly making a positive impact on the socioeconomic lives of our countrymen,” the Palace official said.
Self-rated poverty is defined as the proportion of respondents rating their families as “poor.”
The recent results on the self-rated poverty survey also bolster the confidence of the Philippine government to achieve its goal of reducing the country’s poverty rate to 14 percent by 2022.
“Poverty reduction efforts, particularly those designed for the lowest rung of society, remains on track. We aim to reduce poverty from 21.6 percent in 2015 to 14 percent in 2022, which is equivalent to lifting about 6 million Filipinos out of poverty by the end of the President’s term. And we will grind daily to reach this goal,” Panelo added.
The latest survey also showed self-rated food poverty also falling to a new record-low of 27 percent, or an estimated of 6.8 million families.
This is 2 points below the previous record low of 29 percent in March 2018 and 7 points below the 34 percent or estimated 7.9 million families in December 2018.
The March 2019 survey was conducted from March 28 to 31 using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao with sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.