THE number of Filipinos who consider themselves poor fell for the first time in three quarters, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Friday. When President Duterte assumed office in June last year, self-rated poverty was at 45 percent. SWS attributed the decrease in self-rated poverty nationwide to lower scores in Luzon and Metro Manila, which tempered slight increases in the Visayas and Mindanao. Self-rated poverty dropped 16 points in Balance Luzon (Luzon excluding Metro Manila) to 34 percent and eight points in Metro Manila to 28 percent. For self-rated food poverty, the threshold was P6,000 a month, but respondents said they were short of that by P2,500.

Source: Manila Times July 21, 2017 16:52 UTC