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| Photo from Panay News |
The P64 food poverty threshold means that families
with a minimum wage earner as breadwinner are food poor. This is the reaction
of the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) to NEDA Secretary Arsenio
Balisacan’s statement on the latest poverty threshold estimates. Tomorrow, the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is set to hold a presscon to announce the
results of the poverty survey for the full year of 2023.
“Basing on the publicly available PSA data, the
first semester 2023 poverty threshold for Metro Manila is P18,704, of which P13,061
is the allocation for food. The minimum wage for Metro Manila, which was increased
last month, is just P645 per day or P16,770 for one month. Thus, the income of
a family of five with a minimum wage earner as breadwinner falls well below the
poverty line and is food poor,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a
Marikina city councilor.
He called for a legislated across-the-board wage
hike of P150 to recover the lost purchasing power of workers nationwide. PM is
calling on Congress to act on the demand for a salary increase.
The P13,061 poverty food threshold for Metro Manila
in the first semester of 2023 implies that a person needs more than P87 per day
to be considered not poor. This is above the P64 mentioned by Sec. Balisacan
which refers to the national average for the full year of 2023. Magtubo
declared that “The P64 food poverty threshold is well above NCR’s food poverty
threshold since the cost of living is higher in the capital. But despite the higher
minimum wage in Metro Manila that is still not enough to sustain a family.
Therefore, workers deserve a wage hike.”
He added that “It is a scandal that the minimum
wage—which is a floor supposed to protect workers and their families—fails to rise
above the poverty threshold. And this holds not just for Metro Manila but for all
regions. We are a nation of working poor. Sa kabila ng sipag at tyaga ng mga manggagawa,
nanatiling mahirap ang kanilang mga pamilya.”
“Further, we can question the accuracy of the poverty threshold estimates. Suffice it to say that even Sec. Balisacan found it difficult to defend the P64 food poverty threshold and stated that it needs revision. This admission from officials is good to hear but action from government is what the working poor need,” Magtubo averred.
August 14, 2024
