MikeLigalig.com

Helen Flores
The Philstar

Despite claims of economic growth by the government, about nine million Filipino families or 52 percent still rated themselves poor, a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The Third Quarter 2007 Social Weather Survey showed that “self-rated poverty” rose in all areas, except in the Visayas where the figures actually went down.

In this region, the number of people who said they were poor dropped to 47 percent from 52 percent last June, which is the second-lowest level since the series started in 1985, SWS said.

However, self-rated poverty rose by 19 points in Mindanao, from 49 percent last June to 68 percent in September.

It slightly increased in Metro Manila from 36 percent to 41 percent and in the rest of Luzon from 47 percent last June to 50 percent.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 2 to 5, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

In urban areas, households that consider themselves poor fell to a relatively low 44 percent. But it rose by nine points in rural areas, from 54 percent in June to 63 percent in September, the pollster said.

SWS, however, noted that self-rated poverty has been at the somewhat low range of 47 to 53 percent since September 2006, compared to 55 to 59 percent during December 2005 to June 2006.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 43 percent or about 7.5 million Filipino families, consider themselves poor in terms of food. SWS calls this as “self-rated food poverty.”

“Twenty-five percent put themselves on the food-borderline, and 32 percent consider themselves as not food-poor,” SWS added.

At the national level, self-rated food poverty rose from 37 to 39 percent in the first two quarters of 2007. Its current score of 43 percent is close to the levels in December 2005 to November 2006, the survey firm said.

In the Visayas, self-rated food poverty declined to 33 percent from 40 percent in June. However it rose sharply to 59 from 34 percent in Mindanao. It rose slightly in Metro Manila to 33 from 29 and in balance Luzon from 40 to 41 percent.

SWS has been conducting self-rated poverty surveys since 1986.

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