Palace: A lot more must be done to lift Filipino families out of poverty

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday admitted that “much more needs to be done” to alleviate poverty in the country, and cited how the COVID-19 pandemic “has taken a heavy toll on income and job opportunities.”

The Palace issued the statement after an estimated 10.9 million Filipino families considered themselves “poor” in the first quarter of the year, according to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

“The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on income and job opportunities. It is for this reason that we have accelerated social and economic recovery while managing the risk due to COVID-19,” acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said in a statement.

Andanar noted the imposition of some measures – although for the immediate term – that include the easing of restrictions and placing of areas under Alert Level 1 to “further improve the performance of key sectors such as tourism and opening of schools for face-to-face learning.”

“We recognize that much more needs to be done to lift Filipino families from their poor condition.  We have therefore adopted a Ten-Point Policy Agenda for Economic Recovery last April 2022 where all government agencies are directed to ensure all-related policies, programs, and measures of the government are aligned with the Ten-Point Policy Agenda,” he added.

The SWS survey conducted from April 19-27 showed that 43 percent of Filipinos rated themselves as “poor” while 34 percent felt “borderline poor.”

Twenty-three percent, meanwhile, considered themselves “not poor,” according to the same survey released Wednesday.

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