BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-CAR) cited that the poverty threshold of the region for the first semester of 2015 was estimated at P11,017 per capita which means that an individual needs a minimum monthly average income of P1,836 to meet both basic food and non-food needs.
The data translates to a minimum of P9,181 minimum monthly take home income for a family of five to be considered not poor.
Mountain Province had the highest poverty threshold among the provinces in the region with P11,809 in the first semester of 2015 and the same was attributed to the higher prices of goods and services in the province compared to other areas in the region.. Further, the PSA-CAR cited that this was an increase of 11.7 percent from the first semester of 2012.
Benguet recorded the next highest poverty threshold with P11,374 but the province registered the biggest incline in poverty threshold with an increase of 20.9 percent from the first semester of 2012 which had estimated threshold of P9,407.
Kalinga, Apayao and Abra had the lowest poverty thresholds with P10,215, P10,469 and P10,703, respectively.
The PSA-CAR explained the poverty threshold refers to the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food and non-food needs which are clothing, housing, transportation, health and education expenses. If the income of the family or individual falls below the threshold, the individual or family is considered poor.
In the first semester of 2015, the PSA-CAR bared the estimated per capita food threshold in the region was P7,668 which means that an individual needs a minimum monthly average take home pay of P1,278 to meet basic food needs set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).
For a family of five, the agency cited they need at least an average of P6,390 monthly income.
If the income of the individual or family falls below the food threshold, the PSA-CAR claimed that they are considered to be subsistence poor or food poor and that they are also called poorer than poor since they could not provide for themselves adequate sustainance to carry out productive activities.
Among the provinces, the PSA noted Mountain Province posted the highest food threshold with P8,263 while Klainga, Apayao and Abra had the lowest with P7,147, P7,310 and P7,474, respectively.
The PSA-CAR revealed food threshold is the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the FNRI for economically and socially productive individuals.
The PSA-CAR is regular conducting a study on the region’s poverty threshold periodically to monitor the improvement of poverty incidents in the different parts of the region.
By Dexter A. See
