More Filipinos considered themselves poor due to inflation, a Cabinet official said.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan attributed the increasing number of Filipinos rating themselves as poor in the third quarter of the year to inflation, particularly for essential commodities.

Balisacan also pointed out that the series of typhoons hitting the country made an impact on families who cannot keep up with the rising prices of goods.

“We note that the SWS (Social Weather Stations) September survey was conducted after a series of typhoons hit the country, which also affected food prices and directly impacted families who lacked the means to cope with the increase in prices,” Balisacan said, responding to the latest SWS survey result.

The survey conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 showed that 48 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor. It went up from 12.5 million in June to 13.2 million in September.

“As we noted earlier, poverty measures based on respondents’ perceptions are sensitive to inflation, particularly for essential commodities. Food inflation in September was higher than in June this year due to the supply disruptions,” he said.

Balisacan noted that the government remains focused on reducing poverty incidence among Filipinos to nine percent by the end of President Marcos' term in 2028 through various strategies and whole-of-society approach.

According to the NEDA Chief, the government is implementing for the short term, several measures to provide immediate assistance to those in need, including the rollout of the Food Stamp program, the removal of pass-through fees for vehicles transporting goods, and the distribution of cash aid through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program, specifically targeting the poorest individuals.

He added that the administration prioritizes policies and programs aimed at generating more and higher-quality jobs, as this is the most robust and effective approach to reducing poverty.

“This will involve expanding our markets, improving our infrastructure, and attracting more strategic investments, while also preparing the workforce with the necessary skills for the jobs that will be created,” Balisacan said.

He further said that the administration has also implemented measures to accelerate these efforts, such as ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, establishing green lanes for strategic investments, and streamlining project approval procedures, among others.

"Moreover, we will pursue programs to modernize agriculture, improve productivity, and enhance the linkage to markets," Balisacan said.

“Given these strategies and our whole-of-society approach, we are optimistic that we can still reduce poverty incidence among Filipinos to 9 percent by 2028,” he added.