THE CONVENTIONAL method of measuring the poverty rate is to determine how many percent of households could not afford to buy all the contents of an imaginary basket of goods.
Each country has its own rules of rules as to what to include in the basket, subject to their own policies. These rules are based on how each country would define what should be included as the basic needs of their own people. Because of that, some countries have included items that they would consider as basic needs, items that were excluded by other countries.
For example, some counties have excluded VHS players in the past, an item that is considered as a luxury by many other countries. As far as I know, landline phones have not been included, because of the fact that pay phones are supposedly available to those who do not have phones at home.
As an alternative to the conventional method of measuring the poverty rate, some countries are now using the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a metric that measures how many percent of households are denied access to certain goods and services. For example, those who are denied access to toilets, water and electricity are considered for, even if in theory, they could afford to buy the contents of the imaginary basket of goods.
As I see it, it would be good for countries to use both methods, as a way of check and balances between one method and the other. It is significant to note that one of the criteria in the MPI is access to at least two appliances. Under the MPI method, a household that does not have access to more than two appliances is considered poor.
The usual appliances that are listed under the MPI would include transistor radios, television sets and refrigerators, but it goes without saying that Personal Computers (PCs), laptops and notebooks should also be listed.
In a manner of speaking, all of these three could be considered as internet appliances, if and when used for online connectivity. In the same vein, smartphones should also be considered as internet appliances, in the sense that these are no longer just ordinary mobile phones. Somehow, the social dimension has changed, because there are no longer that many pay phones around, perhaps based on the urban legend that mobile calls are now generally affordable.
In Bhutan, their constitution states that the people have the right to access information. That constitutional provision has been further boosted by laws that give the people the right to have internet access.
On its part, the United Nations has declared that internet access is a basic human right, of course stopping short of saying that it should be free.
Here in the Philippines, an Executive Order (EO) has been issued to affirm the rights of the people to have access to information, but without necessarily saying that internet access should be provided for free. Nonetheless, the government is now implementing a program to provide free WI-FI in public places.
Believe it or not, there are now many people who are willing to forego their purchase of food, so that they could buy mobile load for calls and texts. As it is now however, I would not be surprised if some people are now willing to forego their purchases of food, so that they could buy load for data services, in other words for internet access.
Since we already know that, we do not need anyone to tell us that both internet and mobile access are now basic human needs. Of course we could not actually demand that the government should make access free to everyone, but if only for purposes of determining a more realistic poverty rate, the government should include these two in the imaginary basket of goods, and declare that all computer devices could be considered as internet appliances, for purposes of measuring poverty by way of the MPI method.
Without any doubt, it is the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) phenomenon that has saved our economy. Of course, we could still earn from OFW remittances for as long as there is a demand for foreign labor in our target markets, but for good measure, it is more sustainable for us to export products and services with higher value added, instead of exporting our warm bodies.
Fortunately, we have also gained a foothold in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) phenomenon and one way or the other; our BPO earnings are supplementing the OFW remittances.
The good news now is that many independent service contractors are now providing all kinds of services to foreign clients, using the internet as their means of delivery. It could be said that these providers also belong to the BPO industry, and their common denominator is their dependence on internet access.
As I understand it, a good number of Filipino entrepreneurs are now also selling their customers to global markets via electronic commerce, using the internet. To this people, internet is not only a basic need, it is also their lifeline to their means of income./PN
