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| Photo from UCA News |
“The phenomenon of Filipinos going hungry persists despite 30 years of economic growth. Sa mga komunidad, madami ang gutom na Pilipino o GNP. This is the GNP that we see is increasing,” according to Judy Miranda, secretary general of the group Partido Manggagawa (PM). This was PM ‘s reaction to the statement yesterday of Finance Undersecretary Domini Velasquez that poverty will be reduced to single digits by 2028.
Miranda asserted that “The government is able to brag about a low poverty incidence because it uses a depressed poverty threshold. Even Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan finds it difficult to defend the low poverty line that he promises a review of the unrealistic basket of goods used.”
“We ask Undersecretary Velasquez, what are the planned government interventions so that poverty is reduced to below 10% by the end of President Bongbong Marcos, Jr.’s administration? If this forecast is merely based on continued economic growth, this prediction is misguided as it assumes that everyone benefits from a rise in gross national product. GNP increases just means more gutom na Pilipino. Trickle-down economics is a scam. Di na magpapabudol ang manggagawa sa trickle-down.” Miranda explained.
She added that “Workers have certainly not benefited from the robust economic growth or GNP increases. Data provided by former Finance Undersecretary Karl Chua already revealed that the economy doubled from 2001 to 2016 and labor productivity increased by half yet real wages remained flat. Meaning, the size of the economic pie expanded but the slice taken by workers stayed the same. The capital-labor share of incomes is skewed against the working class.”
PM avers that Filipinos will not feel the predicted poverty reduction unless that are asset redistribution programs, targeted income transfers, and expansion of public services. “We reiterate our demand for a P150 legislated across-the-board salary increase, maternity benefits for informal women equivalent to 44 days of minimum wage, and provision of public laundromats in poor communities. These are concrete examples of actions that can reduce poverty, especially for women,” Miranda concluded.
August 18, 2024
