(Eagle News) — The Palace on Wednesday, June 19, hailed the drop in the number of families who rate themselves as poor, based on a recent Social Weather Stations survey.
“The Duterte administration continues to break barriers,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
According to Panelo, this was “notwithstanding the divisive and destructive political propaganda war waged by the President’s critics and detractors during the campaign period for the midterm elections when the survey was conducted.”
He said with the development, the Duterte administration’s goal of reducing poverty from 21.6 percent in 2015 to 14 percent in 22,or about 6 million Filipinos out of poverty, is on track.
He thanked the President’s economic managers, social welfare officers, barangay health workers and the members of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster “for tirelessly making a positive impact on the socioeconomic lives of our countrymen.”
“And we will grind daily to reach this goal,” Panelo said
The SWS survey, conducted from March 28 to 31, showed a record-low 38%, or an estimated 9.5 million families, who rate themselves as poor.
The figure is 12 points below the 50%, or an estimated 11.6 million families, in December 2018, and 4 points below the previous record-low of 42% in September 2016 and March 2018.
