Only in the Philippines!

Seven out of 10 Filipinos consider themselves poor, an increase of more than four percent from the last survey, according to the October poll conducted by research organization Ibon Foundation that was released on Thursday.



Malacañang, for its part, downplayed the survey results and said the poll was conducted shortly after two devastating storms that left many people despondent. Ibon said the survey was conducted to find out the people’s perception of the economy, their livelihood and income, government performance, and other pressing issues.

The nationwide survey conducted last October 2 to 8 among 1,496 respondents showed that 71.4 percent of Filipinos rate themselves as poor. The figure is higher than the 67 percent who said they were poor in the preceding survey conducted in July.

Correspondingly, the number of Filipinos who do not consider themselves poor slightly declined to 21.52 percent from 22.01 percent last July.

Almost six percent of Filipinos are unsure of their status.

According to Ibon, the results are “not surprising” since 57 percent of the respondents also said their family’s income is not enough to meet their needs, an increase from 53 percent in July.

About 1.20 percent of Filipinos said they have more than enough to satisfy their needs, while 57.02 percent said their income is not enough for their daily needs.

Likewise, 47.3 percent of the respondents said there is not enough jobs/livelihood in their area, higher than the 39.2 percent in the last survey round.

Meanwhile, 47.26 percent of Filipinos believe there are available jobs but not enough for the unemployed individuals.

Some 27.14 percent said there are no job opportunities in there area.

Ibon noted that the increase in the number of poor Filipinos nationwide could be attributed to the increase in the number of poor respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR).

A total of 62.4 percent of respondents in the NCR rated themselves as poor in the October survey, up from 49.5 percent in July.

The Ibon survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

Malacañang for its part downplayed the latest Ibon survey.

Presidential economic spokesperson Gary Olivar and Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the research group conducted the survey after the onslaught of typhoons that are reflected in the poll results.

“While we are not questioning their technical capability, they have known political sympathies,” Olivar said.

Fajardo also explained that given the circumstances, the survey yielded such outcome. (With a report from Charissa M. Luci)

Source: ELLALYN B. DE VERA, http://mb.com.ph