CORRECT me if I am wrong, but as far as I can remember, no administration has ever set a properly vetted poverty reduction target.
If ever any administration has set a poverty reduction, not one might have achieved it, or if ever it was achieved, it may not have been reported.
On the other hand, the United Nations (UN) has set a goal for poverty reduction in all member countries, aiming to cut poverty by half starting in the year 1990 and ending in the year 2015.
As far as I know however, the Philippines as a country has failed to meet that goal. Looking back, the years 1990 to 1992 were under the 11th President, Cory Aquino, the years 1992 to 1998 were under the 12th President, Fidel Ramos, the years 1998 to 2001 were under the 13th President, Joseph Estrada, the years 2001 to 2010 were under the 14th President, Gloria Arroyo, and the years 2010 to 2016 were under the 15th President, Benigno Aquino III.
Cutting poverty by half by the year 2015 was the 1st Millennium Development Goal (MDG), one of seven other MDGs. As of Sept. 25, 2015 however, the UN has already replaced the 8 MDGs with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), retaining poverty reduction as one of the SDGs.
In a significant move however, the new SDG is to “end poverty in all its forms” starting in the year 2015 and ending in the year 2030. Based on the language that it is using, it is very clear that the UN has shifted its focus from poverty reduction to poverty eradication.
This is a major shift in paradigm, and this could be a challenge to some of our government officials who are still trying to grasp the difference between poverty alleviation and poverty reduction. As a matter of fact, that might have been the reason why we have failed to meet the 1st MDG, because our focus was on poverty reduction, and not on poverty reduction.
The 1st MDG was actually to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015. Since the UN has already declared that the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by half was already achieved, it is implied that the new purpose of the 1st SDG is to eradicate whatever remains of poverty in whatever form, extreme or not, by the year 2030.
Do note, however, that the UN has already made the reduction of hunger as a 2nd SDG, rebranding it as “Zero Hunger”, defining it as a goal to “end hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture” by the year 2030.
Needless to say, the eradication of hunger has a direct bearing on the 3rd SDG which is “Good Health and Well-being”, because nutrition in the form of food is necessary to have good health. Specifically, the 3rd SDG aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Specifically, target 1A of the 1st MDG was to “halve, between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.25 a day.”
Target 1B was to “achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.” As it is now, employment concerns have been moved to the 8th SDG which is “decent work and economic growth.”
Although the UN says that “poverty eradication is only possible through stable and well-paid jobs”, the 8th SDG also supports entrepreneurship and the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by way of access to financial services. As I see it however, being an employee and being an entrepreneur could be mutually exclusive, and it’s more practical for an employee to also have an enterprise.
It appears that the UN has already adjusted the poverty line from $1.25 per day to $2.00 per day, the latter equivalent to about 90 pesos per day based on today’s dollar exchange rate. Since the average minimum wage of about P444 per day is higher than P90 per day, it would be reasonable to think that anyone in the Philippines who is earning at least the minimum wage would be above the UN’s poverty line.
However, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) estimates that the per capita income in the Philippines is about 16, 841 pesos per year, an amount that is equal to about 46 pesos per day. Based on that figure, the NSCB estimates that 27.9 percent of households fell below the poverty line in 2012. Records show that under the MDGs, the Philippines committed to reducing the poverty rate from a benchmark of 33.1 percent in 1991, to a 50 percent reduction target of 16.6 percent in 2015.
It is still debatable whether the Philippines achieved the target of 16.6 percent poverty rate in 2015, but what is important now is to achieve the target of “No Poverty” (zero poor) in the year 2030.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the employment rate in the Philippines is 93.5 percent as of July 2015. However, it also says that the underemployment rate during the same period is 21 percent, and the unemployment rate is 6.5 percent.
If we deduct the underemployment rate from the employment rate, it would show that the real full employment rate is about 72.5 percent. On the assumption that 100 percent of all those who are fully employed are earning at least the minimum wage, it would show that the rest of the labor force, numbering about 27.5 percent, could already possibly fall below the poverty line.
As I see it, the NSCB and the PSA should talk to each other in order to reconcile their figures, because these do not seem to match. If the NSCB is correct in saying that 93.5 percent of the population are employed and assuming that all those who are working are receiving at least the minimum wage, then the per capita income should already to up to at least P115,440, based on five days of work per week. On its own or in coordination with the Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE), the PSA should redefine “underemployment” to mean working below one’s qualifications, instead of the present interpretation now that it means working below eight hours.
It should also redefine “employment” to mean only the “stable and well-paid jobs”, as defined by the UN. Under the UN definition, it is unlikely that contractual work, piece work and daily wage work would qualify, because these jobs definitely do not pay well, and are not stable.
It is a well known fact that the daily minimum wage of about P444 is barely enough for most Filipino families to make both ends meet. It could be said that even if P444 per day is way above the P90 per day poverty threshold that was set by the UN, Filipino households that are earning only within the minimum wage could still be considered as technically poor.
The truth of the matter is that the UN is actually referring only to those that are extremely poor, and not those that are technically poor. Looking up ahead, it is possible that “No Poverty” could possibly be achieved in 2030, but only as far as the extremely poor are concerned. As far as the Philippines is concerned, it would be good if our country could eradicate not only extreme poverty in 2030, but also technical poverty./PN
