Government urged to reevaluate standards for meeting basic needs

HARD STATS According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, “no less than P10,481 on the average” is needed by a family of five to meet both their monthly basic food and nonfood needs. Residents of this slum area in Binondo, Manila, may find that hard to believe. —RICHARD REYES

A monthly budget of P7,337 that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said was enough to feed a family of five translates to less than P50 for three meals a day for every family member, lower than the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s P60 daily budget for food for every inmate, according to a senatorial candidate.

“If that is the standard of the PSA, life may even be better for prisoners or inmates. At least they don’t have to worry about paying for electricity, water and rent,” Ding Generoso said on Thursday in a statement.

Generoso, former spokesperson of a consultative committee created by President Duterte to draft a proposed federal Constitution, recalled that the Food and Nutrition Research Institute had determined that in 2015, a Filipino would need at least P88 a day to meet calorie and nutrition requirements.

On Wednesday, the PSA said the poverty threshold was set at “no less than P10,481 on average,” the amount needed by a family of five to meet both their monthly basic food and nonfood needs.

This means that each member, on average, is allocated a budget of just P70 a day.

Labor groups on Thursday urged the PSA to reevaluate the poverty threshold, lamenting that the amount did not reflect the current expenses of families.

Sonny Matula, chair of Nagkaisa labor coalition, said the monthly budget that the PSA construed as enough for a family to meet its needs was just a little higher than the P60 subsistence daily allowance of prisoners.

Asked if the amount set by the PSA was enough for a family of five to survive, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said: “It might depend on the lifestyle of the family. If you ask the poor, they might say that they will be content to eat rice with salt.”

Wage increase

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said that if the PSA maintained this computation, workers might find it difficult to press the government and the private sector for a just wage.

TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said employers could justify their stand against a significant wage increase by citing the current minimum wage as already above government standard.

“This very low standard erases the need for wage boards to provide significant wage increases. It gives us the impression that ‘everything is okay’ and there’s no need for wage increases because minimum wages are higher than the minimum threshold,” Mendoza said.

At present, the highest daily minimum wage in the country is P537, which is enjoyed by workers in Metro Manila.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) said a family of five, especially those in Metro Manila, would need a budget of at least P39,000 a month. Of this amount, 44 percent is allocated for food.

PM chair Rene Magtubo pointed out that PSA’s computation did not seem to take into account realities consumers were facing.

“Out of the P7,337 food budget of PSA, we guess that P2,000 is allotted for rice. Such a budget can only buy 60 kilos of P32 NFA (National Food Authority) rice—which is hard to find in the market—for one month or two kilos per day to be shared by five people,” Magtubo said.

The party-list ACT Teachers said the government was using meager statistics on poverty threshold to justify denying its workers salary increases.

“The Duterte administration, through the PSA’s too conservative numbers, aims to present diminishing statistics on the income gap, poverty gap and severity of poverty, and thus silence the deafening demand of the people for living salaries and wages,” said ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio.

Even the P10,510 received by the lowest-paid government employee is not enough to keep families afloat, Tinio said.

Professionals like public school teachers, who currently receive a minimum salary of P20,179, are still forced to take out multiple loans to meet their needs, he said. —REPORTS FROM JEROME ANING, JOVIC YEE, JULIE M. AURELIO AND MELVIN GASCON

Philippine Statistics Authority report aims to stop wage hike — labor groups

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expressed concern that the PSA figures were released to lower wage standards and discourage workers from seeking salary hike. File photo

MANILA, Philippines — Organized labor yesterday debunked the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) findings that monthly income of a little over P10,000 is sufficient for a family of five, and claimed that the report would discourage wage increases.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expressed concern that the PSA figures were released to lower wage standards and discourage workers from seeking salary hike.

“This very low standard erases the need for wage boards to provide significant wage increases. It gives us the impression that ‘everything is OK’ and there’s no need for wage increases because minimum wages are higher than the minimum threshold,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said.

Mendoza said employers and business groups are going to use the PSA data to defend their position against any salary increase and argue that the wage standard is lower than the current minimum wage.

But he said the PSA standard is so low and it would appear that there is no sense of urgency to uplift the condition of Filipino workers.

The PSA said that a salary of P10,481 a month is enough for a family of five to survive.

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) claimed that the PSA is ridiculous and inaccurate.

“The level of fantasy the PSA has reached to come up with this is significantly high. It’s impossible to comprehend how the PSA could have arrived at such a conclusion that P10,000 is sufficient to sustain an ordinary Filipino family with five members,” said Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) secretary general Jerome Adonis.

The PSA, Adonis said, did not consider shelter, transportation, utilities, health care and education costs when it came up with its new poverty threshold figure.

“Neither did it consider the continued increases in oil prices, electricity and water rates as effects of the TRAIN law,” Adonis said.

Adonis said P10,000 monthly income is only enough to feed Filipino families once a day and who do not use electricity or pay rent.

He suspects that the PSA findings were released to prevent workers from seeking pay hike.

Labor groups have been actively pushing for a P750 daily minimum wage.

“Workers need and deserve a substantial wage increase because the current P537 minimum is way below the P1,000 estimated Family Living Wage,” Adonis pointed out.

Adonis said workers are getting measly salaries despite their consistent productivity.

Adonis said recent studies showed that labor productivity in Metro Manila grew by 35 percent from P456,059 per worker to P614,297.

However, Adonis said the real value of the mandated minimum wage increased by only 11 percent in real terms at constant 2012 prices.

Adonis said officials of PSA and other government agencies should try to survive on P10,000 for a month – using only that amount to pay for all their basic needs and to cover whatever contingencies and emergencies that may arise.

He said PSA and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) keep adjusting poverty level standards and computations to project an image of the country’s economic progress at the expense of workers and other poor.

Federation of Free Workers (FFW) president Sonny Matula said the P10,000 monthly earnings is just a little higher than a prisoner’s allowance.

“Are we approximating a prisoner’s life with this PSA computation? With the higher cost of commodities, I don’t know how a family of five would survive with P10,841 pesos a month,” Matula said.

He said the PSA data were apparently taken from a world of make believe.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) activists yesterday described the poverty threshold set by the government as “unrealistic.”

“The latest government data showing poverty incidence going down is not something to be happy about, considering the very low poverty threshold that government set. The P10,481 poverty line is unrealistic,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes.

“How can five people meet their basic food and non-food needs for a month with this very small amount? This translates to a mere P70 per person per day. Prices of food, transportation and other utilities have gone up significantly the past few years,” he added.

He added it also provides a justification not to increase wages and salaries since people can make do with P10,481 a month.

Marawi civic leader and opposition senatorial bet Samira Gutoc said the PSA report is unbelievable, saying that the agency should come up with better, more credible research in making its reports.

“Let us examine the figures. This translates to P244 a day or P81.33 a meal for a family of five. Broken down further, about P16.26 per person per meal in the family. In contrast, meal allowance of one who works in government is from P150 to P220… This is really disconcerting,” Gutoc said.

“If we were to take PSA’s estimates at face value, the meal stipend can almost feed five people: one mouth as opposed to five poor ones. This is why I have a problem with PSA’s assertions. I do not believe five persons can eat on a budget of P244 a day,” Gutoc added. – Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) With Rhodina Villanueva, Cecille Suerte Felipe

TUCP laments poverty threshold may mislead policy making

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expressed dismay over the poverty threshold standard released recently by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza (TUCP Party-List / MANILA BULLETIN)

“If we are going to use this as standard basis for our public and private policy to uplift our people from poverty, it would appear there is no sense of urgency in this poverty threshold standard amount set by the Philippine Statistics Authority,” said TUCP President Raymond Mendoza.

The PSA said that an amount worth P10, 481 is needed per month to meet the basic food and non-food items of a Filipino family of five members.

“In it, there are no prospects of hope for the millions of poor Filipinos. This standard is so low and it wants to keep our status quo as it is,” said Mendoza.

The labor leader lamented that “employers and business groups are also going to use this government standard amount to say there is no need for a significant wage increases particularly for minimum waged earners because minimum wages, as what this standard implies, are above the threshold.”

“This very low standard erases the need for wage boards to provide significant wage increases,” said Mendoza.

“It gives us the impression that ‘everything is okay’ and there’s no need for wage increases because minimum wages are higher than the minimum threshold,” he added. - By Analou De Vera