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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
April 14, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 14.4 million Filipino families consider themselves poor in the first quarter of 2025, a new survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) said.
The survey, conducted from March 15 to 20 and released on Friday, showed that 52 percent of the respondents consider their families poor, almost similar to 50 percent in January and 51 percent in February.
Based on the results, self-rated poverty in the first quarter of the year eased from the 21-year high of 63 percent obtained in December 2024.
Meanwhile, those who rated their families as “not poor” was at record-high 36 percent in the first three months of the year, up from 26 percent in the December 2024 survey.
Those who said they were “borderline” poor range from 12 percent to 14 percent in the first three months of the year, from 11 percent in December.
Across areas, self-rated poverty was highest in March among those in the Visayas at 62 percent (from 74 percent in December), followed by those in Mindanao at 60 percent (from 76 percent), balance Luzon at 46 percent (from 55 percent) and Metro Manila at 41 percent (from 51 percent).
Those who rated their families as “not poor” were highest among those in Metro Manila at 48 percent (from 40 percent), followed by those in the rest of Luzon at 43 percent (from 34 percent), Mindanao at 27 percent (from 15 percent) and the Visayas at 25 percent (from 11 percent).
The latest survey also showed that hunger rose among poor families, from 31.5 percent in December to 35.6 percent in March.
It was composed of 27 percent who said they experienced moderate hunger and 8.5 percent who experienced severe hunger.
The survey had 1,800 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.31 percent.
Farmers below poverty threshold
Farmers’ group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) over the weekend said that rice farmers who earn a net average of only P17,854 for a cropping season or roughly P5,951 per month are well below the national poverty threshold of P12,030 per month for a family of five.
KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said that the average income of farmers has declined steeply as he renewed his call for urgent and substantial government support of local rice farmers, who are suffering from the dual burden of skyrocketing production costs and decreasing farmgate prices six years after the Rice Liberalization Law took effect.
“These figures prove what we have been saying all along: the Rice Liberalization Law has destroyed the livelihood of our farmers,” Ramos said.
Ramos noted that the average cost of producing one kilo of palay has risen to P15.32 in 2023, driven by rising prices of farm inputs such as fertilizer, fuel, seeds and labor.
He said fertilizer prices alone increased by 75 percent to 100 percent during the pandemic and have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
“Despite these escalating costs, farmgate prices of palay have remained stagnant or even declined,” he added.
He said farmers sold their harvest for as low as P12 per kilo, translating to a net loss of P3.32 per kilo.
“This is a clear indication that most rice farmers are operating at a deficit. Farmers are barely surviving. Every cropping season, they are forced to spend more just to produce rice, yet earn less with each harvest,” he said.
Ramos said despite these growing costs, farmgate prices of palay in many provinces remain dismally low, particularly during the peak harvest season when traders exploit oversupply and lack of government buying capacity.
“When the cost of production is higher than the selling price, that’s not farming – that is slow economic death,” he said. — Bella Cariaso
