[Philippines] Number of Filipinos living in extreme poverty declines

from The Gulf Times

The number of people living in extreme poverty in the Philippines decreased by 1.6mn, with the country’s Muslim minority posting the biggest gains, the government said yesterday.

The National Statistics Office said the percentage of people living below the poverty threshold in the Philippines dipped to 30% in 2003 from 33% in 2000.

“In terms of population, 30 out of 100 Filipinos in 2003 had income short of the minimum cost of satisfying the basic requirements, an improvement from 2000 in which 33 out of 100 Filipinos had income below poverty threshold,” it said.

“This translated to a 1.6mn decrease in the magnitude of Filipinos living below the poverty line,” it added.

The NSO placed the per capita poverty threshold in the Philippines at P35.93 ($0.68) per day income, enough to buy 1.5kg of rice, the country’s staple food.

The agency said three predominantly Muslim provinces in the southern region of Mindanao - Tawi Tawi, Sulu and Lanao del Sur - had successfully reduced poverty levels by double digits, due to large-scale development programmes.

But it also noted that seven of the 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines can still be found in strife-torn Mindanao, which has been wracked by decades of Muslim insurgency.

The government and international development agencies hope that a peace agreement with Muslim rebels would further result in widespread poverty reduction in the area.