House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Speaker’s office)

The economic expansion that the country is undergoing under President Marcos is being felt by Filipinos.

Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez as he reacted to the drop in the number of Filipino families that consider themselves poor .

“I believe that the improvement in the poverty numbers reflect the trickle-down effect of economic expansion, though we often say growth is not tangibly felt by our people," Romualdez said.

"But somehow, they benefitted from it, because growth means more economic activities and additional income and job opportunities for our people,” said the leader of the 300-plus strong House of Representatives.

He said government intervention and assistance programs also contributed to the decline in poverty and hunger.

“We should all welcome and be happy about this piece of good news. It means that the intervention programs of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., supported by the legislature, principally the House of Representatives, are working,” Romualdez said.

Going into specifics, he said that Marcos' decision to put a price cap on rice as well as his campaign against price manipulation, profiteering, hoarding, and smuggling of agricultural products stabilized the prices of basic staples.

The House helped in the President’s campaign by exercising its oversight power and conducting inquiries into supply chain problems and recommending solutions.

Romualdez has recently launched his own intervention project dubbed CARD (for Cash Assistance and Rice Distribution), consistent with the President’s efforts to help the poor.

In partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, CARD teams have distributed rice and financial assistance to thousands of beneficiaries in Metro Manila and several provinces, including Laguna, Biliran, Davao de Oro, Leyte, Camarines Sur, and Ilocos Norte.

According to OCTA Research group’s 2023 third quarter Tugon ng Masa survey, some 12.1 million Filipino families considered themselves poor, down from 13.2 million recorded in the second quarter.

This means that 1.1 million families felt that their situation was better in the third quarter than in the previous quarter, OCTA said.

On the other hand, a Social Weather Stations poll showed that the number of Filipino families who faced “involuntary hunger” at least once in the last three months dropped to 9.8 percent in September 2023, down from 10.4 percent in June this year.

SWS said the term “involuntary hunger” refers to those who experienced hunger or those who had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months.

The pollster said overall hunger decreased among those who rated themselves poor, from 10.8 percent in June to 7.7 percent in September.