President Aquino is discrediting the report of his own government agency- National Statistical Coordination Board which says the much-vaunted impressive economic growth has not trickled down to the teeming poor in the country.
The NSDB official release said: “Poverty incidence among population was estimated at 27.9 percent during the first semester of 2012. Comparing this with the 2006 and 2009 first semester figures estimated at 28.8 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively, poverty remained unchanged as the computed differences are not statistically significant.”
In simpler terms, life for the Filipino poor has not improved in the past six years.
Aquino must have been so furious that government figures don’t jibe with the upbeat assessments of global think tanks and rating agencies about Philippine economy posting impressive growth that he bumped off from his Brunei delegation Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Brunei, Aquino was quoted by ABS-CBN as saying, “May konti akong duda… Hindi ba doon hindi nga ni-report nang tama ‘yung population, ‘yung population na pagkukunan mo ng per capita, paano naging tama ‘yung comparison in ‘09 and ‘12?”
He said he “has reservations over data on ARMM where poverty incidence was found to have worsened. He said that comparing current data with those from the previous administration may not be reliable since some information collected from that region had to be corrected, including its voting population.
He also said that results of government’s health and education programs for the poor, as well as the conditional cash transfer program, should be looked at.
ABS-CBN also said Aquino cited government’s “intervention” in agriculture that helped reduce the price of milkfish (bangus) compared to galunggong.
Aquino disputing publicly government statistics makes us recall the reaction of Gloria Arroyo in June 2006 when her education secretary, Fe Hidalgo, reported that there was a classroom shortage of 6,132 rooms.
She berated Hidalgo in a cabinet meeting where she was doing the presentation. She reminded Hidalgo of her instruction not to use the ratio of 1 classroom to 45 pupils, which was the ideal situation conducive to learning but to use 100 to 1 ratio because they increased the class size to 50 and since there are two shifts in one day, 100 students use one classroom.
A humiliated Hidalgo went back to the Department of Education, did some dagdag-bawas, and came back to Malacañang with a glowing report that there was no more classroom shortage.
We are wondering what Balisacan is going to do when Aquino comes back. Is he going to revise his poverty statistics?”
Anyhow, on the record, here are excerpts from the press release of the NSCB on poverty incidence in the country:
“During the first semester of 2012, a Filipino family of five needed PhP 5,458 to meet basic food needs every month and Php 7,821 to stay above the poverty threshold (basic food and non-food needs) every month. These respective amounts represent the food and poverty thresholds, which increased by 11.1 percent from the first semester of 2009 to the first half of 2012, compared to the 26.0 percent-increase between the 1st semesters of 2006 and 2009.
“The food threshold is the minimum income required by an individual to meet his/her basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), while remaining economically and socially productive. Put another way, the food threshold helps measure food poverty or “subsistence,” which may also be described as extreme poverty.
“The subsistence incidence, which represents the proportion of Filipino families in extreme poverty, was estimated at 10.0 percent during the first semester of 2012. At 10.0 percent in the first semester of 2009 and 10.8 percent in the first half of 2006, the differences among these three figures remain statistically insignificant.
“In terms of poverty incidence among families, the NSCB estimates a rate of 22.3 percent during the first semester of 2012, and 23.4 percent and 22.9 percent during the same periods in 2006 and 2009, respectively.”
Hindi natin kailangan ang isang mahusay na istadistika para mapaniwalan ang karamihan na ang kahirapan ay is nandidilat na katotohanan sa Pilipinas,
Kailangang pagsikapan ng pamunuan ni Pnoy na mawala ang mga squatter (informal settlers ngayon) hindi lamang sa kalunsuran kundi manapa maski sa kanayunan; lahat ng mga bata 6-12 years ay nasa eskuwelahan; ang mga buntis ay mabibigyan ng angkop na atensyong medikal; may malinis na tubig na maiinom sa lahat ng kabahayan; ang mga gulay at isda ay kayang mabili ng karaniwan sa araw-araw na sweldong kanila natatanggap; walang namamalimos sa kalsada; walang lulong sa solvent o droga; walang akyat bahay o mandurukot, magnanakaw na kailangang gawin ang kanilang ginagawa para lamang mapakain ang kanilang pamilya . . .
Pag narating na natin ang ganitong senaryo ay taas noo na nating masasabing nalipol na nga natin ang kahirapan; hindi na natin kailangang pagtakpan ang mga datos ng katotohanan at sisihin si Arroyo o ang NSO, NSCB, NEDA at ilang ahensya ng gobyerno na matapat lamang ginagawa ang dapat nilang gawin: ang ilahad ang katotohanan
Ayon sa Wikipedia, heto ang DENIAL bilang isang uri ng psychological defense mechanism: “Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening; arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it doesn’t exist; resolution of emotional conflict and reduction of anxiety by refusing to perceive or consciously acknowledge the more unpleasant aspects of external reality.”
Tumpak na tumpak kay AbNoy–mapa-Sabah, mapa-ekonomiya, mapa-KKK, atbp. Sa aspetong ito, parehong-pareho sila ni Utang Inang Gloria.
mali nga naman kasi ‘yung report ng NSCB, eh.
dahil ang mga naghihirap la’ang ay ‘yung mga kongresmen at senador na hindi pa nakakatanggap ng pork barrel.
kokonti nga naman ‘yun.
patulog tulog kasi sina lacierda at valte, eh.
baka palagi sa klinika ni viki belo!
Lahat kasi ng pinupuntahan ni Noynoy ay mamahaling restaurants. Maggala sya sa sulok-sulok ng Kamaynilaan kahit di na sa mga baryo, makikita nya na walang epek ang pinagmamalaki nya na sirit ng ekonomya.
Pikon!
sometimes it takes a little bit of time to understand figures. it would have helped had the President called his economic staff and asked for a briefing about the report para mas malalim ang paghandle niya ng issue.
pero naniniwala din ako na konting konti na lamang ang naghihirap sa ating mga kababayan. iilan na la’ang silang maaaring masabing naghihikahos dahil baga ‘yung karamihan sa kanila ay NANGAMATAY na nang dilat sanhi ng gutom sapagkat HINDI SAPAT ang limos na CCT’ng ipinagmamalaki ng kasalukuyang administrasyong minana’t ginaya mula sa pinalitang buwisit administrasyon ng banal at pinagpalang sinungaling na babaeng sungki ang ipen na may bangaw sa mukha!
malinaw ang kanilang datos: mangilan ngailan na lamang ang naghihirap na pinoy. at ‘yun ay sa taong 2525!
magkita na lamang tayo sa panahong iyon.
Utang Inang Gloria… hahaha!
Kung ganyan na iniiwasan o hindi tanggap ni Noynoy ang tunay na datos ng naghihirap sa bansa, abnormal yan sa isang pangulo. Ayaw na masaktan ang mala-sibuyas na damdamin. Kaya hantong sya sa pagiging denial king. 🙂