Children line up at a feeding program in Baseco, Tondo, Manila, on November 24, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The government needs more realistic figures on poverty and on food poverty to properly address those problems, Sen. Nancy Binay said of the National Economic Development Authority’s food-poor threshold of P64 a day that has earned the agency criticism from citizens.

In an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo, Binay, chair of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking, said a threshold that is too low will deter NEDA from seeing the needs of poor Filipinos.  

"Kapag nakita mo yung graph, wow, parang marami nang hindi naghihirap," Binay said of ongoing budget deliberations, but said that legislators need more accurate figures to know whether poverty programs need bigger allocations.

(When you look at the graphs, it is like so many Filipinos have risen from poverty)

"Ang gusto namin ay kung talagang kailangan na magkaroon pa ng mas malaking programa…eh tama yung numero na ipe-present natin," she said.

(What we want is — if there is a need for a larger program for this, then we should have the correct numbers)

She said that the government cannot address social problems if it doesn't know what the public needs.

"[Lumalabas na] kapag kumikita ka ng P100 hindi ka mahirap na alam ho natin na malayo sa katotohanan ang ganoong numero and from my perspective kung gusto nating malaman kung ano ang kailangan ng ating mga kababayan diba kung nakita  mo kung maganda ang numero tuloy tuloy kung ano ang programa," Binay said.

'Kalokohan iyun': Pangilinan slams NEDA’S P64/day food-poor threshold

NEDA declared these numbers during the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s Senate briefing, sharing that on the food-poor threshold alone, the average is P9,581 per month for a family of five.  That would mean a P64/day meal budget per family member, translating into roughly P21 per meal for each individual.  

READ: P64 budget para maituring na food poor, inalmahan

She said that a cup of rice at the Senate canteen already costs P20, which would mean no more money for protein or vegetables in the NEDA's computed budget.

"Last year pa nire-raise natin yung point na hindi sapat ang P21 per meal para hindi ka matawag na food poor dahil alam naman natin na hindi na realistic na gawing P64 per person per day ang budget ng mga tao," she said.

(We have been raising this issue since last year. We know that it isn't realistic to budget just P64 a day per person)

Binay also urged authorities to invest more on the country's agricultural needs.

"Alam natin na napakaimportante ito kasi aside from... Kasi papasok dito ang food security natin. Very volatile ang presyo ng pagkain kasi highly dependent tayo sa imports kaya sa akin siguro yun dapat ang pagtuunan kung paano matutulungan ang sector ng agrikultura," Binay shared.

(This is very important because we are highly dependent on imports, which makes prices very volatile)

NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier said the figures were "never intended to be prescribed budgets for a decent standard of living." 

He said that the figure is noit meant to "dictate how much a family should spend on food, nor do they provide an idea of a desirable household budget."

He said figures like the food poverty threshold  "are metrics that we use to determine the inclusiveness of the country’s economic growth and if our policies have improved the well-being of the poor." 

He added: "Let me emphasize that poverty is more than just needing more income to meet these thresholds."

RELATED: Inflation quickens to 4.4 percent in July as power, fuel, food costs rise

Economic think tank IBON Foundation noted this month that high inflation has hit the poorest Filipinos the worst.

“The continuous rise in prices since the start of the year, with a significant surge in July 2024, highlights the failure of government efforts to control inflation and bares the emptiness of their repeated claims of success,” the think tank, which uses government figures for its analyses, said.

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