Four million more Filipinos live in poverty

According to a report by the country’s statistical agency 18 per cent of families were poor in the first half of 2021. Repeated tight lockdowns are the main factor. “[O]ur parish receives requests for help from families every day,” said Fr Caelli, parish priest in Parañaque.

Manila (AsiaNews) – At least 26.1 million Filipinos live in poverty, nearly four million more than in 2018, this according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the population.

In the first half of the year, the poverty rate rose to 23.7 per cent, much higher than three years ago, when it was 21.1 per cent or 22.26 million people.

About 18 per cent of families (4.74 million) live below the poverty line, that is 700,000 more than in 2018.

This year the minimum revenue needed by a family of five was estimated at P 12,082 (around US$ 242) per month. A household that earns less than that cannot meet its food and other basic needs; in 2018, P 10,532 (around US$ 211) were sufficient.

Fr Simone Caelli, a PIME missionary in Parañaque, one of the 16 cities that make up Metro Manila, can attest to the poverty.

"COVID has increased the contradictions,” he told AsiaNews. “A few days ago, Parañaque was recognised as the fifth richest municipality based on taxes paid,” he explained. Yet, “there are still many poor people".

His parish in Parañaque is located near the international airport, an area where tall buildings and large shopping malls continue to be built. But not far away, there is a huge slum.

“We faced four very tight lockdowns, dark red if we used Italian (colour-coded) categories,” Fr Caelli noted.

"In our parish there are pockets of chronic poverty because many could not make ends meet even before the pandemic, but COVID made it worse.”

“Because of the restrictions many people have lost their jobs, especially bricklayers and pedicab[*] drivers,” he added.

“People couldn’t work for a very long time and now they can carry at best one person, which is too little. We know this because our parish receives requests for help from families every day.”

[*] A hatchback tricycle.