PH backs UN bid to redefine poverty measure

THE PHILIPPINES—where over a fourth of the population are poor—is backing a proposal in the United Nations that will redefine how the incidence of poverty is measured.

Arsenio Balisacan, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, said defining the incidence of “multidimensional poverty” would be a more holistic approach in assessing a population’s well being.

There is no definite process for measuring multidimensional poverty. But under the UN proposal, proponents hope that factors such as access to services and facilities on health, sanitation, education and security, will be taken into account.

“Multidimensional poverty measurement is highly relevant and extremely useful for our efforts to substantially reduce poverty in the Philippines,” Balisacan said in a speech delivered during the 68th general assembly of the United Nations held last week in New York City.

Balisacan said measuring poverty in multidimensional level would be important in seeing the bigger picture.

He said that, in the case of the Philippines, poverty incidence as of the latest count was still high. The figure was almost unchanged from that of previous years, although some improvements could be noted if other factors affecting the well-being of its population were to be taken into account.

In particular, Balisacan claimed that there has been a substantial improvement in access to services and facilities, such as health and education, which helped improve the quality of life in the Philippines.

As of the first semester of 2012, poverty incidence in the Philippines stood at 27.9 percent. According to statisticians, the figure was not statistically different from the 28.6 percent recorded in 2009.

However, over the same period, more poor gained access to public services and facilities, which led to an improvement in the quality of living, Balisacan said.

“Quality of life did improve, as evidenced by the declining trend in acute deprivation. Economic growth resulted in improved access to services and facilities, encouraged asset buildup, and [led to] human capital improvements” among the poor, Balisacan said.

The government’s conditional cash transfer program (CCT), which started in 2009, was one of the factors that had helped reduce multidimensional poverty in the Philippines.

A study by the World Bank released earlier this year showed that 98 percent of children aged 6 to 11 in communities covered by the CCT program are now in school. This is higher than the 93 percent of children not belonging to communities covered by the CCT.