Poverty figures must reflect Filipinos’ lived reality – Legarda

MANILA, Philippines — The reported decline in poverty incidence to 9.7 percent in 2025, from 15.5% in 2023, sounds good, but does it translate to the real experience of Filipino families?

“The decline is significant, but we also have to ask what these numbers mean in the daily life of a Filipino family,” Sen. Loren Legarda said in a statement on Monday.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Legarda said the number of Filipinos classified as poor declined from 17.54 million in 2023 to 11.08 million in 2025, meaning around 6.46 million Filipinos moved above the official poverty threshold during the period.

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READ: PSA: PH poverty hit lowest, single-digit level in 2025

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Around 1.90 million families remained below the poverty line in 2025, while the national poverty threshold for a family of five was placed at approximately ₱14,634 per month.

“If ₱14,634 is considered enough to meet the basic food and non-food needs of a family of five, government should be able to show clearly what that amount can realistically provide,” she said.

Under that estimate, she pointed out, only ₱20 per person is allotted per meal — breakfast, lunch, and dinner, an amount that wouldn’t even allow them to buy simple food at a karienderya.

“Kaya makatarungan bang sabihing hindi na naghihirap ang isang pamilyang bahagya lamang lumampas sa ganitong antas?” Legarda said.

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(“So is it right to say that a family who has reached this level is no longer suffering poverty?”)

She stressed that crossing the official poverty line does not necessarily mean a family has achieved economic security.

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“Posibleng sabihin ng datos na nakaahon na sa kahirapan ang isang pamilya dahil lumampas na ang kita nila sa poverty threshold. Pero kapag tinanong sila mismo, baka ang sagot nila: ‘Mas mahirap pa ang buhay namin ngayon.’ Kung mas mabilis ang taas ng presyo ng pagkain, pamasahe, kuryente, gamot, at iba pang pangangailangan kaysa sa pag-angat ng kita, hindi sapat na sabihing umangat sila sa papel. Dapat maramdaman din nila ang pag-unlad sa araw-araw na buhay,” Legarda said.

(“The data may say that a family is no longer poor because it has gone beyond the poverty threshold. But if you ask them, maybe they will say: ‘Our life is harder now.’ If the prices of food, fare, electricity, medicine, and other needs have risen faster than their earnings, it’s not enough to say on paper that they have improved. They should feel the growth in their everyday lives.”)

Still vulnerable to poverty

Legarda cited a recent World Bank estimate that 27.7 percent of Filipinos remained vulnerable to falling into poverty, with many households clustered just above the poverty threshold.

She also noted that the 2025 poverty figures precede the sharper cost pressures being experienced this year.

In July 2026, inflation among the bottom 30 percent of income households reached 8.2 percent, while food inflation was at 8.5 percent and rice inflation at 19.3 percent.

Legarda pointed out that these rising costs were also reflected in a July 2026 OCTA Research survey, where self-rated poverty rose from 35 percent of families in March to 39 percent in July, equivalent to about 10.3 million families.

In the same survey, she added that self-rated hunger also increased from 17 percent to 21 percent, affecting around 5.6 million families, and among families who experienced hunger, 87 percent said it happened only once or a few times.

Legarda said these figures point to a disconnect between improving official poverty statistics and the hardship many Filipino families continue to feel in their daily lives.

“If official poverty has gone down, then we have to ask why more families still say they feel poor and are experiencing hunger. Being above the poverty line should mean being able to afford food, housing, utilities, transport, health, and education, with enough left for emergencies. Our statistics should reflect what families actually experience every day,” Legarda said.

READ: Survey: More Filipino families consider themselves ‘poor’ in Q2

Energy price shock

The World Bank, she added, had also warned that the present energy price shock could push approximately two million Filipinos into poverty, particularly those families with little financial cushion.

“Keeping families out of poverty requires policies that help them keep more of what they earn, protect the livelihoods they depend on, and open up more reliable sources of income,” Legarda said.

She cited some of these policies:

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• Senate Bill No. 2255, or the proposed Keeping Incomes Tax-relieved and Augmented (Kita) Act KITA, which seeks to ease the tax burden on workers, adjust tax thresholds to inflation, and give stronger protection for municipal fisherfolk and their access to municipal waters
• SB No. 205, or the Local Harvest Support Act of 2026, which would expand government procurement of locally produced food
• SB No. 2258, or the 4K Act, which seeks to strengthen livelihood and market opportunities for Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples