52% Pinoy families rate themselves poor – SWS
The rate of families who consider themselves poor was up by four points to 52 percent (12.2 million families), as shown in the third quarter of 2018 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Wednesday.
The nationwide survey conducted last Sept. 15-23 with 1,200 respondents found 52 percent (12.2 million) of families considering themselves as poor, or four points above the 48 percent (11.1 million families) in June 2018. It is the highest since the similar 52 percent survey result in December 2014.
SWS pointed out that this is the second consecutive increase in selfrated poverty in 2018, and since the 42 percent recorded in March 2018, self-rated poverty has increased by 10 points in total.
It attributed the four-point increase in the nationwide self-rated poverty in the third quarter of 2018 to sharp increases in the rest of Luzon and Mindanao, offset by a sharp decrease in Metro Manila and an unchanged proportion in Visayas.
Police forces across the country are now hunting down various criminal groups which they believe would revive their operations as gun-for-hire and goons of political warlords for the midterm elections next year.
Chief Supt. Benigno Durana, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that their latest monitoring revealed that there were at least 77 active private armed groups actively operating in the country, 72 of them in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Self-rated poverty rose by 12 points in the rest of Luzon, from 35 percent in June 2018 to 47 percent in September 2018. This is the highest since the 50 percent in September 2017.
It rose by five points in Mindanao, from 60 percent in June to 65 percent in September. This is the highest since the 70 percent in September 2015.
However, it fell by 17 points in Metro Manila, from 43 percent in June to 26 percent in September. It is a new record-low for Metro Manila, overtaking the previous record-low of 28 percent recorded in December 2000, June 2017, and December 2017.
The self-rated poverty meanwhile was unchanged in Visayas at 67 percent in June and September, and the highest since the 71 percent in December 2015.
8% used to be non-poor The September 2018 survey also found that of the 52 percent self-rated poor families, 8 percent used to be non-poor one to four years ago (“newly poor”), and 6 percent used to be nonpoor five or more years ago (“usually poor”).
During the survey, self-rated food
“As of second quarter of 2018, we have 77 active private armed groups with 2,060 members. They are armed with at least 1,574 firearms,” said Durana.
But what they are particularly concerned about is that private armed groups may mushroom as the election nears possibly due to ‘high demand’ from erring local candidates, he said.
Durana said that these groups are usually hibernating after the elections and would group themselves anew during the election period, offering their services to local politicians. poverty or those who are food-poor went up by two points to 36 percent (8.5 million) from 34 percent (7.8 million) in June 2018.
It is the highest since the 37 percent in June 2015.
The median self-rated poverty threshold or the monthly budget that a poor household needs for home expenses in order not to consider itself poor in general is P10,000.
The September 2018 survey found that the median self-rated poverty gap or the amount poor families lack in monthly home expenses relative to their stated threshold was at P5,000, or half of the self-rated poverty threshold.
Meanwhile, the national median self-rated food poverty threshold or the monthly budget that a food-poor household needs for food expenses in order not to consider its food as poor is P5,000.
SWS said the national median selfrated food poverty gap or the amount food-poor families lack in monthly food expenses relative to their stated threshold is unchanged at P3,000. This is more than half of the self-rated food poverty threshold.
Most of these groups are reportedly in Luzon and the Visayas, since private armed groups are normally at the services of local politicians at the entire incumbency for local posts, or are permanent armed groups of political clans, intelligence reports said.
Durana said the goal of the PNP leadership is to ensure that they would not give the private armed groups the chance to group themselves.
It was recalled that in Rizal province, six members of a gun-for-hire syndicates were killed in a drug bust by the local police on Tuesday morning.