The inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) on Poverty Determination of the NSCB does the determination of the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold is the sum of the food threshold and non-food requirements. The food threshold is the annual per capita income required or the amount to be spent to satisfy a person’s basic food requirement. It is calculated by costing low-cost menus of food that are commonly eaten and are generally available in the region. The menus were constructed by region and different menus were prepared for urban and rural areas. The food menus also meet 100% adequacy of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for energy (2,000 calories) and 80% adequacy of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The menus were prepared by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and are valuated using the prices obtained from NSO and Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) surveys. The food threshold in the Bicol Region in 2003 stood at P8,372.

Selected Poverty Statistics, Bicol Region: 2000 and 2003

 
To determine the poverty threshold, the food threshold is multiplied by a raising factor to provide for the basic non-food components. Non-food basic needs include fuel light and water, transportation and communication, household operations, personal care and effects, clothing, footwear and other wear, education, medical care, purchase of non-durable furnishings, rent/rental value of occupied dwelling unit and house maintenance and minor repairs. The raising factor is estimated from the expenditure pattern of all FIES sample families within the upper and lower 10 percentile of the food threshold.

In determining the percentage of the total population and the total number of families who do not earn as much as the poverty threshold, the TWG looks into the income of individuals and families based on the FIES. The poor persons/families refer to those whose income cannot provide for the basic food and non-food requirements. In other words, these are the persons/families in the Bicol Region whose annual per capita incomes are below the annual per capita poverty threshold of P12,354. Thus, the 40.5 percent poverty incidence of families in Bicol means that 40.5 percent of the total families in the region are considered poor while the remaining 59.5 percent of the families in the region are non-poor. The proportion of poor persons to the total population is referred to as the poverty incidence of population. The latest estimates reveal that poverty incidence of population likewise improved from 52.6 percent in 2000 (based on 2000 revised estimates) to 48.4 percent in 2003. This also means that in 2003, about 51.6 percent of the total population is considered non-poor compared to 47.4 percent in 2000.

On the other hand, the core poor or the subsistence families/individuals refer to those whose income cannot provide the basic food requirements called the food threshold. In simpler terms, these are the persons/families whose annual per capita incomes fall below the annual per capita food threshold of P8,372. In 2003, an estimated 20.3 percent of families in Bicol Region have incomes below subsistence level, an improvement over the 2000 subsistence incidence of 23.3 percent. This translates to a 26.6 percent subsistence incidence of population, down from 29.3 percent in 2000.

As in the past, poverty is more widespread in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Poverty incidence of families in urban areas stood at 28.8 percent against 45.1 percent in rural areas.

Source: National Statistical Coordination Board

Date posted: May 17, 2004