Even as survey was made before Ondoy, Pepeng calamities

MANILA- The number of Filipinos who consider themselves as poor increased slightly, according to a recent survey released Thursday.

The results of the Third Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) found that 53% or an estimated 9.7 million families consider themselves as "mahirap" or poor.

The new Self-Rated Poverty rate is 3 points up from 50% or an estimated 9.3 million from the previous survey conducted in June 2009.

SWS, which released the results Thursday in a statement, said the survey was conducted from September 18-21, 2009.

This means the survey was conducted before millions were affected by calamities due to strong weather disturbances which caused floods and landslides in Luzon especially Metro Manila and Northern Luzon.

The poll organization said the Self-Rated Poverty level has been at 50% and above since March 2008 except in February 2009 when it was at 47%,

SES said that Self-Rated Poverty decreased by 5 points in Mindanao, from 62% in June to 57% in September; but rose by 7 points in Balance Luzon, from 44% to 51%, and by 4 points in the Visayas, from 56% to 60%.

It barely changed in Metro Manila, from 42% in June to 41% in September, according to the results of the recent survey. Self-Rated Poverty also rose slightly by 2 points in urban areas, from 44% to 46%, and by 1 point in rural areas, from 58% to 59%.

Food-Poor

The Third Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey also showed that 41% of Filipino families or an estimated 7.5 million consider themselves as Food-Poor while 35% put themselves on the Food-Borderline and 24% consider themselves as Not Food-Poor.

SWS said that Self-Rated Food Poverty rate has steadily risen from 36% in February, 39% in June, and 41% in September of 2009 after declining from 42% in December 2008. The number of families who put themselves on the food-borderline slightly declined from 33% as well as those who considered themselves as not food-poor which was 28% in the June 2009 survey.

Self-Rated Food Poverty levels also declined in Mindanao by 4 points from 47% in June to 43% in September. It rose however by 6 points in the Visayas, from 42% to 48%, and by 3 points in both Metro Manila, from 32% to 35%, and in Balance Luzon, from 35% to 38%.

‘Self-Rated Poverty Threshold remain sluggish’

Meanwhile SWS said that the Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, or the monthly budget that poor households indicate that they need in order not to consider themselves as poor, remain sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.

The poll organization said that this indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, meaning belt-tightening.

The recent survey showed that the median poverty threshold for poor households rose to P15,000 in Metro Manila, and to P10,000 in Balance Luzon. Both amounts, however, have reportedly already been reached several times in the past in those areas.

SWS said that the median poverty thresholds of poor households stayed at P5,000 for those in Mindanao, while it declined from P8,000 to P5,000 in the Visayas. In both areas, median poverty thresholds had already reached P10,000 in the past.

The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households also rose in Metro Manila, from P5,000 to P6,500, and in Balance Luzon, from P3,000 to P5,000 while it stayed at 3,000 in Mindanao, and declined to P3,000 in the Visayas. SWS said that the amounts had already been reached several years ago.

SWS said that the median poverty threshold of P15,000 in recent survey is barely above P10,000 as in 2000, even though the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen there by over 57% since.

The poll organization computed that P15,000 per month for September 2009 median poverty threshold is equivalent to only P9,536 in base year 2000 purchasing power, after deflation by the CPI. The deflated poverty threshold for NCR of below P10,000 per month is similar to living standards of over ten years ago, it said.

SWS said that the recent survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila and Mindanao, and 600 each in Balance of Luzon and the Visayas (sampling error margins of ±2.3% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila and Mindanao, and ±4% for Balance Luzon and the Visayas).

It said the area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2009 to obtain the national estimates.

SWS said the survey questions about the family's poverty and food-poverty were directed to the household head. It said both items were non-commissioned, and have always been included on SWS's own initiative and released as a public service.