Eradicating poverty will ‘take decades,’ says Palace

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Wednesday said that the battle to eradicate poverty is a “sustained fight” that will take“decades.”

This was the response of presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on the results of a survey conducted by Ibon Foundation, which revealed that 7 out of 10 Filipinos rated themselves as “poor.”

BACKSTORY: Poverty’s end as chimera

“Ibon knows and every economist knows that the fight against poverty is a sustained fight that requires sustained intervention and it takes decades,” Lacierda said in a statement sent through text message.

In the survey, 65% of the 1,501 respondents said that they view themselves as poor at the present, while 30% said otherwise.

Asked if their livelihood has improved from last year, 59% of the respondents said that their livelihood did not change while 21% said that their livelihood “became worse.”

Lacierda said that the Aquino administration vows to fight poverty through the implementation of its poverty alleviation program.

“Our government continues and will continue to fight poverty and evidenced of that is our poverty alleviation intervention programs,” he added.

The survey also probed the ability of Filipinos to pay for their household expenses such as electricity, medical treatment, education, utilities and transportation.

The Ibon survey was conducted from January 19 to 30 in 16 regions with a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.