Hunger, poverty figures the President chose to ignore

Original Copy of Avigail Olarte | July 28, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Filed under: Governance, In the News

PP

RESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today exuded confidence in announcing in her state of the nation address that she has addressed the incidence of hunger, even noting how “unfriendly polls” have registered low self-rated poverty figures.

Arroyo, however, chose to emphasize portions of the poverty surveys that she could use, choosing to quote results that are no longer current.

On the issue of self-rated poverty, for instance, Social Weather Stations surveys did show that self-rated poverty is down to its 20-year low in 2007. In a self-poverty rating, SWS asked household heads “to point to where they belong on a card with the words “poor” on one side, “not poor” on the opposite side, and a line in between.”

But what is missing is the fact that figures have declined as families lowered their living standards, that is, belt-tightening in order not to be considered poor. In fact, SWS reported that this is the reason why there is a declining poverty threshold, despite the rising cost of living.

In Metro Manila, for example, the median poverty threshold was recorded at P9,000 in the mid-year 2007 survey, even though it had reached P15,000 many times before. SWS reported that this monthly median poverty threshold is equivalent to only P6,259 in base year 2000’s purchasing power. According to the survey, the last time that the National Capital Region recorded a deflated poverty threshold below P7,000 was 20 years ago, in 1987.



The president, in her 2008 SONA Technical Report, also boasted of addressing hunger incidence.

In her report, which she based on the SWS 2008 first quarter survey, the “national hunger incidence declined by 0.7 percentage points from 16.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 15.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008.”

Arroyo also highlighted the decline in hunger incidence recorded in all regions — three percentage points in Metro Manila, two percentage points in both Visayas and Mindanao.

Her report even mentioned that the “positive development may be attributed to the government’s resolute pursuit of its Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program,” which was designed to increase food production and improve distribution. “Under these supply-demand strategies are specific programs that the government is currently implementing not only to address hunger but to ensure food security as well.”

But what Arroyo failed to mention was that the decline was slight, or equivalent to 2.8 million families.

And that while the numbers were down, they were still four points above the 12.0 average percentage of hunger in 40 quarterly SWS surveys from mid-1998 to the present.

In specific areas, like in Metro Manila, hunger fell by three points (19 percent to 15.7 percent) but which was still five points above the nine-year average of 11.6 percent, according to SWS. It was the same in Mindanao, where the decline — from 20.3 percent to 18 percent — was still four points above the nine-year average of 14.1 percent.

Arroyo also did not mention in her SONA technical report the results of the 2008 second quarter survey, where hunger rose to 16.3 percent — or four points above the 10-year average hunger rate of 12.1 percent — and severe hunger to 4.2 percent.

Severe hunger, or those who experience it “often” or “always” in the last three months, was experienced by some 760,000 families, up from 3.2 percent or only 570,000 families.

And while moderate hunger, or those who went hungry “only once” or “a few times,” declined slightly (12.5 percent in March to 12.1 percent in June), the figure is still four points above the nine-year average of 8.8 percent.



In fact, SWS reported that “both Severe Hunger and Moderate Hunger are now higher in Metro Manila than in other areas.” In both Visayas and Mindanao, severe hunger likewise increased.