PBBM "Determined" To Reduce Poverty Incidence To 9% By 2028

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is determined to reduce the poverty incidence in the country to as low as nine percent by the end of his term in 2028, according to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

NEDA's chief emphasized that the administration prioritizes policies and programs aimed at generating more and higher-quality jobs, as this is the most robust and effective approach to reducing poverty. I Photo: Philippine Information Agency

Balisacan revealed that to achieve this goal, the government has adopted various strategies and a whole-of-society approach to address the issue of poverty.

Earlier, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released the results of its self-rated poverty survey, showing that almost half of Filipino families consider themselves to be living in poverty.

Secretary Balisacan said, "We note that the SWS September survey was conducted after a series of typhoons hit the country, which also affected food prices and directly impacted families who lacked the means to cope with the increase in prices."

"As we noted earlier, poverty measures based on respondents' perceptions are sensitive to inflation, particularly for essential commodities. Food inflation in September was higher than in June this year due to supply disruptions," he added.

He explained that the government is implementing several short-term measures to provide immediate assistance, including the rollout of the food stamp program, the removal of pass-through fees for vehicles transporting goods, and the distribution of cash aid through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program, specifically targeting the poorest individuals.

NEDA's chief emphasized that the administration prioritizes policies and programs aimed at generating more and higher-quality jobs, as this is the most robust and effective approach to reducing poverty.

"This will involve expanding our markets, improving our infrastructure, and attracting more strategic investments, while also preparing the workforce with the necessary skills for the jobs that will be created," Balisacan said.

He further stated, "The Marcos administration has also implemented measures to accelerate these efforts, such as ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, establishing green lanes for strategic investments, and streamlining project approval procedures, among others. Moreover, we will pursue programs to modernize agriculture, improve productivity, and enhance the linkage to markets."

"Given these strategies and our whole-of-society approach, we are optimistic that we can still reduce poverty incidence among Filipinos to 9 percent by 2028," Balisacan concluded.

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