00:00Almost Php14,000 is enough for the monthly expenses of a family with five members, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, PSA.
00:10What can our countrymen say about this?
00:13Here's the first news, Macky Pulido.
00:15In the 2023 official poverty statistics of the Philippine Statistics Authority, for it not to be considered as poor, the monthly income of a family should not be less than Php13,873.
00:33This is the so-called average poverty threshold.
00:36PSA said that this amount is enough to cover all the basic needs of a family with five members.
00:43The poverty threshold in each region will vary because the price of payments and expenses will vary.
00:49In Metro Manila, the poverty threshold is Php15,713 monthly income.
00:55According to the PSA, 69 percent or almost Php11,000 is for food.
01:01The remaining amount is almost Php5,000 for other expenses, such as massages, student transportation, electricity and water.
01:09What do you think, sir? Is it enough?
01:12Again, it is most likely insufficient, the minimum basic needs.
01:26The idea here is to see what progress we're making as a nation in terms of reducing the number of families and individuals from that threshold.
01:38Jason earns more than Php15,000 per month as a construction worker.
01:43When he counts the expenses and pays for his family, it is more than his monthly income.
01:48In that case, they are saving their budget for food and there are things that they are just walking around for, so they won't be massaged.
01:55There are fixed expenses, such as house, water and electricity.
01:58We can't reduce it, so we need to find other ways to reduce it.
02:05In order to cover the expenses, they need to borrow money.
02:09We really have a lot of debts. We are paying almost every month. We just need to pay our debts when the week comes.
02:16According to this account, they don't have enough savings to pay for their medical bills.
02:21That's why Monica is worried. She's also a minimum wage earner because she's about to give birth.
02:26Of course, we need to pay for the hospital bills, for the kids, and for the things that we need to buy medicine abroad.
02:34The poverty threshold was set higher in 2023 compared to 2021.
02:40Do you think your statistics reflect the real situation that Filipinos face?
02:46Wait, the numbers, because we said numbers don't lie.
02:50We reduced the poverty from Php19.9 million to Php17.52 million.
02:59That's the number. There is a reduction.
03:02It means that while our threshold increased because of food prices, our income also increased.
03:10So I agree the threshold might be low, but if we set it at that threshold, there is still a decrease in terms of poverty incidence.
03:20This is the first news. Macky Pulido for GMA Integrated News.
03:32Also abroad, follow us on GMA Pinoy TV and www.gmanews.tv.
Comments