Malacanang: Arroyo's poverty numbers better than predecessors

From the Malaya:

Saludo said based on SWS data, the average SRP was the lowest at 57.3 percent during the Arroyo administration, compared with that of President Joseph Estrada at 59.6 percent, President Fidel Ramos at 62.2 percent, and President Corazon Aquino at 63.4 percent.

He said the finding that SRP dropped in Metro Manila from 54 to 39 percent is proof the economy is improving with the National Capital Region as the first beneficiary.

"As economic benefits spread further outside the metropolis, other regions will see poverty declining," he said.

He said data from the National Statistical Coordination Board showed economic gains cut poverty incidence from 27.2 percent or 25.5 million Filipinos in 2000 to 23 percent or 19.9 million Filipinos in 2006.

I guess if you change the definition of poverty, the magic unicorn will appear and magically reduce the poverty for you too!

Here's what pro-Arroyo columnist Jojo Robles said about Arroyo's poverty numbers in dec 2006.

Neri also made the outrageous claim that poverty actually declined during his watch—but only because of the absurdly low poverty treshold of per capita income. Currently, according to the National Statistics Coordinating Board, a family of five needs an annual income of P65,565. This translates to P1,092 monthly per person, which breaks down to P36 daily. No wonder the latest Social Weather Stations survey revealed that despite Neri’s claims of poverty alleviation, unemployment and hunger are still rampant, with more than half of all Filipinos actually believing that life has become more difficult in recent years.

From the PCIJ: Can you survive on P36 a day?

IF you have P36 a day for your food and non-food needs, you live above the country’s per capita poverty threshold — at least according to the government. The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (Philippines) (GCAP) derived this number from a 2004 National Statistical Coordination Board announcement that one would have to earn at least P13,113 annually to live beyond the poverty threshold.

Thirty-six pesos a day is clearly not enough for a healthy, dignified lifestyle, according to GCAP.

“This amount will probably buy noodles three times a day but it will not provide adequate nutrition. It will not provide for other needs like housing, water, sanitation and medicine,” said Prof. Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, in a statement.

Last October 7, GCAP held a P36 challenge in which participants were asked to try to survive on P36 for one day. The tallied expenses of Delia, whose husband earns P150 a day as a gasoline boy, is almost double the prescribed amount.

Kaya nga pinagtawanan ni Neal Cruz yung SONA ni Arroyo last year eh.

Government statistics are supposed to be credible. When the government says something, it is supposed to be the truth. Not anymore. Government statistics have been corrupted and fudged under the Arroyo administration. When the government says, for example, that there are enough classrooms, that means packing 100 students into each classroom. Before, when you have no job, you are jobless, period. Now, if you happen to land a part-time job once during the year, you are listed as “employed.” Also now, the government has reduced the number of poverty-stricken families by simply lowering the poverty level.

Hey, even JOMA sison is right for once about arroyo stinking numbers back in 2005:

Contrary to absurd government claims that poverty has fallen from 40 per cent to just 30.4 percent of the population in 2003, some 90 percent of the population live on the equivalent of around USD 3 a day. A recent report by the Asian Development Bank points out that the Philippine government achieved the reduction of the poverty level not by raising the people's income but by lowering the poverty line. Indeed, while the general price level supposedly rose by some 15 percent between 2000 and 2003, the government raised the poverty line by just 7 percent - to just PhP 33.60 or some USD 0.60 a day.

Related:

- Arroyo's Magic Unemployment Numbers