Dagupan, Pangasinan — Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on Sunday, December 15, that he is hopeful that the government can achieve its target of improving the lives of more Filipinos by reducing the poverty incidence in the country ahead of its timeline.
“Ang target po ng gobyerno noong 2016 ay maibaba ang ating poverty incidence from 23 percent to 14 percent at the end of the term in 2022,” he said.
(The government’s target back in 2016 was to reduce our poverty incidence from 23 percent to 14 percent at the end of the term in 2022.)
“Pero nakita po natin na 2019 pa lang, nasa 16 percent na. So malaki po yung posibilidad na ang poverty incidence pagnakalkula na po yan, by next year baka maabot na po natin yung 14 percent,” he highlighted.
(But we can see that it is only 2019, and we are already at 16 percent. So there’s a big possibility that once we calculate the poverty incidence, by next year we can already achieve the 14 percent.)
Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that poverty incidence declined to 16.6 percent from 23.3 percent in 2015.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority, this translated to 5.9 million Filipinos lifted out of poverty. Various entrepreneurial activities and the government’s conditional cash transfer program were noted as the key drivers of this progress.
“Mahigit 5.9 million Filipinos ang naiahon sa kahirapan. Napakataas po ng numero na yan,”Secretary Andanar said.
(Over 5.9 million Filipinos were lifted from poverty. That is a very high number.)
The PCOO chief expressed his thanks to the press for reporting this positive news to the public. He likewise urged them to tackle issues on poverty and discuss efforts of the government in decreasing the poverty rate.
“Tayo’y nagpapasalamat po sa media sa full coverage ng [impormasyon] na yan,” he added.
(We thank the media for their coverage regarding this information.)
Alongside his engagement with the media, Secretary Andanar also attended an official project announcement of the first student dormitory condominium in the city.
He commended the leading company for ensuring an environment conducive for learning and comfortable living.
“I must personally commend the various ingredients you have included in the construction of these premier dormitories,” he said.
“It is a wide landscape of many ingredients; and one of the more important of these is the safe, clean, comfortable and interactive atmosphere in the dorms occupied by the students,” he concluded.
