Duterte seeks to lift 6 million Pinoys out of poverty during his term

By Cai Ordinario, Businessmirror, Jan. 26, 2017

The Duterte administration aims to lift an average of 1 million Filipinos out of poverty annually until the time the President ends his term in 2022.

In a briefing on Thursday, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said this will be possible if the economy meets the 7-percent to 8-percent growth target set by the economic team after 2017.

By growing the economy by 7 percent to 8 percent annually, the income of Filipinos could increase by 50 percent in real terms, while per capita income will increase by over 40 percent.

“This should bring us to the upper-middle income category standing by 2022. More important, we hope to reduce the poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022, thereby lifting about 6 million Filipinos out of poverty,” Pernia said.

He said increasing the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in real terms in the Philippines by 50 percent will see each Filipino’s income reach $5,500 to $6,000 a year from the current estimate of $3,700.

To achieve these goals, Pernia said the government has a long list of policies and programs to develop the agriculture sector and make it resilient to shocks.

This will help reduce the cost of food, particularly of rice, the country’s staple. It can be noted that food accounts for more than half of the household spending of the bottom 30 percent of the population.
Pernia added that there is also a need to raise agriculture productivity by helping farmers transition to higher-value crops and improving farmers’ access to technological innovations.

The Neda chief said there is also a need to nurture entrepreneurship and attract investments to improve the quality and quantity of jobs within and outside Metro Manila.

The government will also champion innovation and diversification in the industry sector and improve the regulatory system to make it easier for businesses to operate in the country.

“Such investments will require a truly secure and stable economic and political environment. This will require that policy statements are consistent and predictable with each branch of government or, at least, not logically inconsistent across the three branches of government,” Pernia said.

He added that all these medium-term strategies have been included in the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the country’s socioeconomic blueprint under the Duterte administration.

This PDP, Pernia said, provides a holistic and comprehensive approach to equipping the economy to accommodate higher growth in the following years.

He added that it is also people-centered, since it is anchored on the people’s aspirations for the long term, as articulated in AmBisyon Natin 2040. Pernia said the government’s priorities for the next six years are infrastructure development, human capital investment and regional development.

The Duterte administration also aims to focus on social protection and humanistic governance in order to lay the foundation for inclusive growth, a high-trust society, resilient communities and a globally competitive knowledge economy.

Last week the Neda said it has pushed back the public presentation of the Duterte administration’s PDP.

The Neda said the country’s medium-term socioeconomic blueprint will be submitted to the Neda Board for approval in the second week of February and will be released to the public soon after. Pernia added that the Neda intends to complete the PDP by January 31 and present it to the Neda Board for final approval within the second week of February.