Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Sunday lauded the efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte for cutting the number of poor Filipinos by 5.9 million.
“The significant drop in poverty incidence is attributed to the sound economic policy of President Duterte who has been pursuing structural reforms needed to guarantee the country’s economic takeoff,” he said.
“The numbers now are good. All poverty indicators are at all-time low. We just need to stay on the course and make sure that all the programs and policies are in place for the next phase of the war against poverty,” he added.
According to a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority, 5.9 million Filipinos have been moved out of poverty in 2018.
At least 17.6 million Filipinos or about three million households still struggle to afford basic needs and live below the poverty threshold in 2018.
The National Economic and Development Authority said “the significant reduction in poverty is largely attributed to the improved labor market conditions that increased the salaries and wages of the poor.”
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., National Unity Party president, along with Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, cited the President’s economic policy that pushed the economy to grow at a faster pace in the third quarter of 2019.
“We expect a better economy by end the of the year as Christmas time approaches because the people will have more money to spend arising from the 13th month pay, etc., and there will also be higher cash remittances from our overseas Filipino workers during the holiday period,” Barzaga said.
Salceda, for his part, said the reduction on poverty incidence “is by far the most significant positive news in the first thee years of the Duterte administration.”