Home ›

Gabriela Solon: Address Poverty with Reform Legislation, Not Statistical Manipulation

Press Release Posted on February 16th, 2011.
For Reference: 
For Reference:     REP. LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN 0920-9213221
Jang Monte (Public Information Officer) 0917-4049119
Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan today pushed for the
immediate passage of three measures that will help ease poverty and
give relief to poor Filipino families. These include the Reproductive
Health Bill that will be taken up at the Committee on Appropriations;
as well as House Bill 374 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and HB
375 or the Legislated P125 Across the Board Wage Hike Bill. Both
measures will be deliberated upon today at the House of
Representatives Committees on Agrarian Reform and Labor and Employment
respectively.

“These are urgent measures especially amid rising prices of oil and
commodities. The Aquino government should consider the inclusion of
these measures in its priorities and refrain from sugarcoating poverty
with statistical magic and band-aid solutions like Conditional Cash
Transfers,” said Ilagan.

The Gabriela solon explained that while the increase in the prices of
oil, utilities and basic commodities including rice and sugar
inevitably increases the cost of living for Filipino families, the
National Statistical Coordination Board has revised its methodology
for computing the official poverty threshold. While the previous
computations assumes that a Filipino needs only an average of P52 per
day to be considered above the poverty line, the new methodology now
pegs the official poverty threshold at P46 per person per day.

“By mere statistical manipulation, the Aquino government has
effectively reduced the number of poor Filipinos by 5.3 million. You
cannot face the problem of poverty head on by sugarcoating reality.
Kahit wala nang makain at nagdidildil na sa asin, parang magic na
naglaho ang maraming nagugutom at mahihirap na Pilipino. Hindi ito ang
pamamaraan ng pagtugon sa lumalalang kahirapan ng mamamayan.”

“The Aquino government should focus on making reform and anti-poverty
legislation a priority. Granting workers the much needed P125
legislated wage hike and giving land to the tillers will very well
give the poorest of our poor population the much needed respite from
poverty. Meanwhile the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill will go
a long way in addressing the growing problem of maternal mortality,
infant deaths and Filipino families’ lack of access to health care.”
concluded Ilagan. #
Filed under: 
Tags: 
Bookmark/Search this page with: