Manila: The current administration is being urged by a senior senator to channel more funds to anti-poverty programmes after an independent survey showed that more than half of the Filipino population considered themselves poor.
Senator Edgardo Angara called on the government of President Benigno Aquino III to pour more funds and resources into programmes that will alleviate poverty in light of the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) that showed that 10.4 million families, or roughly 52 per cent of the population—consider themselves poor.
"To be fair, government is doing what it can to improve the welfare of our people. But the results of the survey clearly show that much more needs to be done and that it has to be done as expeditiously as possible," Angara said.
Based on the third quarter poll conducted by the SWS between September 4-7, self-rated poverty has gone up by three percentage points only three months after an earlier poll was conducted where 49 per cent or 9.8 million households saw themselves as "poor".
The September survey also shows that nearly one out of five households or 4.3 million families experienced having nothing to eat in the last three months.
Angara surmised that government underspending could have played role in the rise of self-rated poverty during the polling period.
The Aquino administration had observed austerity measures and had been cutting back on government spending since it took over from the previous government of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
It can be recalled that the Arroyo administration, in a bid to stave off a recession in 2008, had adopted a policy that entailed robust spending on social services and construction of public infrastructures to provide jobs to the unemployed.
But Aquino close aide Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) defended the current administration's underspending. At At the recent 37th Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila Roxas said that the government move had been the result of "good governance."
It had been observed in the past that most of the spending incurred by the government in building public infrastructures were lost to corruption.
But Angara, who had served under the administration of six presidents, said: "We welcome these developments, but now government no longer has any reason to hold back on its abilities to stimulate the economic growth that will create jobs, improve welfare and ultimately eradicate poverty."
He stressed, "All these agencies are implementing projects that directly affect economic development. Government should make sure these agencies are provided with the resources they need to succeed."
