Poverty in the Philippines : Income , Assets , and Access January 2005

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or its Board of Directors and the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. P overty reduction became the overarching goal of the Asian Develoment Bank (ADB) when it adopted the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) in 1999. The PRS was reviewed and enhanced in 2004. The fundamental message of the PRS is that poverty is an unacceptable condition that must be eliminated through public policy and action. The Government of the Philippines recognizes this in its new Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004–2010. The mission statement of the MTPDP is " to fight poverty by building prosperity for the greatest number of Filipino people. " Poverty remains a significant challenge in the Philippines, and it is a challenge that continues to grow: the number of poor Filipinos is increasing. A look beyond the national poverty incidence reveals major disparities among regions and provinces. Rural poverty has proven to be particularly intractable. Poverty in the Philippines: Income, Assets, and Access examines official income poverty statistics and trends, but then takes a more multidimensional approach in exploring questions of access. The report looks at access by the poor to five important assets: human, physical, natural, social, and financial capital. The framework is built on the sustainable livelihoods approach, where vulnerability is a central concept. A number of key constraints hamper poverty reduction in the Philippines. The report identifies seven broad causes of poverty: macroeconomic problems, employment issues, rapid population growth, low agricultural productivity, governance concerns including corruption, armed conflict, and physical disability. Of these, the high population growth rate is particularly significant: population growth over the past two decades has been such that even though the official poverty incidence fell, the actual number of poor people increased by more than 4 million from 1985–2000. This fact alone underscores the urgent need for a serious, clearly articulated, and well-funded population policy. Department, and many others. A consultation workshop with stakeholders from government agencies, civil society, and development organizations took place in November 2004. Lily Bernal provided copy-editing assistance. This country poverty analysis was initiated as an input to ADB' s Country Strategy and Program for the Philippines. It has been published for a wider audience because we …