According to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), poverty incidence or the proportion of people below the poverty threshold to the total population of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was estimated at 26.7 percent for the first semester of 2015. This is based on the result of the income data from the first visit of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted in July 2015. During the same period in 2012, poverty incidence of the region was recorded at 28.7 percent.

 

Subsistence incidence among the Cordillerans, on the other hand, was estimated at 12.5 percent in the first half of 2015, 3.5 percentage points lower compared to the recorded 16.0 percent in the first semester of 2012. Subsistence incidence is the proportion of people whose incomes fall below the food threshold. This is often referred to as the proportion of people in extreme or subsistence poverty.

 

For the whole country, the poverty and subsistence incidences for the first semester of 2015 were estimated at 26.3 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively. Comparing with the same period in 2012, the national poverty incidence decreased by 1.6 percentage points while subsistence poor decreased by 1.3 percentage points.

 

Food and Poverty Thresholds

 

Food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive. It is used to measure extreme or subsistence poverty. Poverty threshold or poverty line is a similar concept expanded to include basic non-food needs such as clothing, housing, transportation, health and education expenses.

 

In the Cordillera region, a family of five needed a monthly average of PhP 6,390 on the minimum to meet the family’s basic food needs and a monthly average of PhP 9,181 at the least to meet both basic food and non-food needs. The first semester 2015 regional food and poverty thresholds increased by about 13 percent compared to the first semester 2012 thresholds.

 

Poverty Among Families in Car

 

The poverty incidence among families in CAR was estimated at 20.6 percent during the first semester of 2015 based on the first visit of 2015 FIES. Compared to the recorded 22.6 percent in the first semester of 2012, the incidence went down by 2 percentage points.

 

The subsistence incidence among families or families in extreme poverty in the region also went down by 3.1 percentage points, from 12.3 percent in first semester 2012 to 9.2 percent in first semester of 2015.