Manila: The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) has highlighted the urgent need for enhanced and better-coordinated efforts to alleviate poverty, as many underprivileged households continue to face challenges in education, housing, and essential services.
According to Philippines News Agency, DEPDev's statement followed the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) release of the first official Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which goes beyond income to address various challenges impacting the quality of life. The MPI was developed to measure poverty by considering deprivations in different aspects of well-being.
The PSA reports that the Philippine MPI evaluates 17 indicators grouped into four dimensions, assessing deprivations in education, health and nutrition, housing, water, sanitation, and employment. A household is considered multidimensionally poor if its weighted deprivation scores surpass the poverty cutoff of 0.25, indicating deprivation in more than one dimension.
According to the PSA's 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS), approximately 12 percent of Filipino households are identified as 'multidimensionally poor,' experiencing multiple deprivations, which results in a national MPI score of 0.042. At an individual level, around 13 percent of Filipinos are multidimensionally poor, with an MPI score of 0.045. Education emerges as the most prevalent challenge, with many adults aged 19 and above unable to complete high school. Housing, water, and sanitation also rank among the most significant issues.
"The MPI shows that poverty is not just about what people earn. It is also about whether Filipinos have access to essential services that allow them to live productive and dignified lives," DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stated. "The value of the MPI is that it helps us see where needs are greatest and where government interventions can make the biggest difference."
Balisacan emphasized that the government could enhance program targeting, improve coordination across sectors, and increase the effectiveness of public investments. He noted the findings reinforce the government's commitment to addressing poverty in all its dimensions through interventions such as adult literacy programs, affordable public housing initiatives, public-private partnership projects, the expansion of Walang Gutom Kitchens, and measures to bolster food production and distribution systems.
"Guided by the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and AmBisyon Natin 2040, we are strengthening investments in human capital, expanding access to affordable housing, advancing universal healthcare, and ensuring food security to uplift the quality of life for all Filipinos," Balisacan added.
