Philippine population at 88.57 million
in 2007
16 April 2008 – The National Statistics Office released today the final results of the 2007 Census of Population, which placed the Philippine population at 88,574,614 as of 1 August 2007. The count is 12 million higher than the recorded 2000 figure of 76.5 million, translating to an average annual population growth rate of 2.04%.
The annual growth rate between 2000 and 2007 is higher than the government target of 1.95% from 2005 to 2010. Nevertheless, Acting Director General Augusto Santos of the National Economic Development Authority says that the 2.04% growth rate is acceptable as it is close to the target and compares well to the rates posted by the Philippines’ Asian neighbors. Malaysia’s population growth rate is 2.1% a year; Vietnam, 1.4%; Indonesia, 1.3%; and Thailand, 0.8%.
Three regions in the country account for more than a third (37.3%) of the total population. The Calabarzon Region has the largest population with 11.74 million, followed by the National Capital Region with 11.55 million and Central Luzon with 9.72 million. Among provinces, the province of Cavite had the largest population with 2.86 million, followed by Bulacan with 2.83 million, and then by Pangasinan with 2.65 million.
The NSO said 4 out of 32 highly urbanized cities exceeded the million mark. Quezon City has 2.68 million people; Manila, 1.66 million; Caloocan City, 1.38 million; and Davao, 1.26 million.
Number of self-rated poor declines—SWS survey
21 January 2008 – According to the latest Social Weather Stations survey on self-rated poverty, 46% of families in the Philippines, accounting for 8.1 million Filipinos, consider themselves poor. This finding of the Fourth Quarter 2007 Social Weather Survey indicates a decline of six percentage points from the 52% figure reported by the survey covering the previous quarter.
According to the SWS, the self-rated food poverty rating has been on a downward trend since the third quarter of 2006. But it pointed out that many families have tightened their belts and lowered their living standards, which is evident in the reduction of the respondents’ declared monthly budget even in the face of inflation.
Manila-based respondents maintained that the monthly budget needed to keep them out of poverty is P10,000, compared to P8,000 for households in Mindanao.
The SWS survey was conducted from 30 November to 3 December 2007, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults from Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
P1B to be released to mitigate hunger
7 November 2007 – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Department of Budget and Management to release an additional P1 billion this year to fund the government's antihunger and antipoverty programs. The immediate release of the funds was ordered by the president during the Anti-Hunger Task Force meeting held today at the Manila Hotel.
The funds will be distributed to government agencies and local government units directly involved in implementing the hunger mitigation programs, which seek to tackle the problem of insufficiency and unavailability of food and people's lack of financial capacity to buy food.
President Arroyo explained that the initiatives address both the supply side and demand side. On the supply side, the programs include improving agriculture productivity, farm and irrigation, full utilization of the Ro-Ro ports and terminals, and the development of more farm-to-market roads. On the demand side, the measures include giving microentrepreneurs access to microlending programs, increasing employment opportunities, conducting more livelihood training, promoting good nutrition, and managing population growth through responsible parenthood programs.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap reported on the status of some of his department's programs, such as the Tindanahan Natin project, which is now only 235 stores away from reaching its target of setting up 8,000 convenience stores by the end of the year. The department has also constructed and renovated 3,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads and is currently finishing 5,000 kilometers more.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus also updated the task force on developments under the Food for School Program project. He reported that one kilo of rice is issued daily to families suffering from severe hunger and whose children are enrolled in preschool and grade school.
CHED to investigate
P500M BPO-ICC project
14 September 2007 – Commission on Higher Education acting chairman Romulo Neri has ordered an investigation into the agency’s P500 million Integrated Multi-Site Business Process Outsourcing-Incubation Contact Centers (BPO-ICC) project. This project was set into motion by Neri’s predecessor at the CHED, Carlito Puno.
Neri wants to review the project’s benefits, as well as investigate the ballooning of the project cost from P300 million and the awarding of the contract to the consortium of E-Services Global Solutions, Drishti Philippines, Information Transmission Computer Corporation., and Hillamare’s Construction Corp. despite the absence of other prequalified bids.
The BPO-ICC project was initially intended to assist state universities and colleges in setting up call center training centers in their respective institutions, but it was learned that CHED allowed schools to construct separate buildings for the laboratories, thereby jacking up the cost of the project.
House think tank backs extension of high-school years
24 August 2007 – A study conducted by the Congressional Planning and Budget Department, a think tank of the House of Representatives, has concluded that adding one more year to the country’s current four-year high-school program will enhance the labor marketability and academic awareness of Filipino graduates.
The social rate of return of extending secondary education in the Philippines has been estimated by the Asian Development Bank at 7.5%, while extending elementary schooling would lead to a 7.0% rate of return. Additionally, the CPBD study found that an additional year also raised the economic growth rate by 0.44% as it facilitates the absorption of technologies.
Compared to Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore, which follow a 13-year cycle in basic education, and to Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, which require 12 years of basic education, the Philippines requires only 10 years—6 years for primary education and 4 years for secondary education. The study noted that most of the countries with longer cycles perform better in international science and mathematics achievement tests. The Philippines, on the other hand, ranked only 41st in science and 42nd in mathematics in the 2003 Third International Mathematics and Science Study.
The CPBD believes educational reform is needed in view of the “inadequate academic preparation of the average young Filipino that may have contributed to the widespread decline in the quality of student input.” The group is expecting resistance from key stakeholders, however, because a one-year extension in schooling will entail additional costs and postpone a graduate’s contribution to the family income by one year.
8M Filipino families consider themselves poor
21 August 2007 – The Social Weather Station has released its Second Quarter 2007 SWS Self-Rated Poverty Survey, revealing that 47% of families in the Philippines (about 8 million families) consider themselves poor.
This is the lowest self-rated poverty result since SWS’s June 2004 survey, when it was 46%. Since then, the rates had been ranging between 48%–59%. However, one explanation for the drop in the number of self-rated “poor” families is the lowering of families’ living standards. Despite the higher cost of living, the self-rated poverty threshold actually dropped.
In the National Capital Region, the self-rated poverty threshold, which ranged between P10,000 to P15,000 a month from October 1999 to March 2007, went down in the latest survey to P9,000. For the rest of Luzon, the threshold is P5,000 per month; it had already reached P10,000 two years ago. In the Visayas, it consistently stayed at P6,000 in the past year, although it also reached P10,000 in a 2004 survey. Mindanao, on the other hand, dropped its poverty threshold to P4,000 a month, after it had averaged at P5,000 in the past five years.
For the survey, which was conducted on 27–30 June 2007, SWS interviewed 1,200 household heads all over the country.
NSO population count starts today
1 August 2007 – The National Statistics Office begins today its 25-day census of the country’s population. The census will cover all people living in the Philippines, including overseas Filipino workers and foreigners who have been or are planning to be in the country for at least a year. About 37,000 census takers will be asking respondents such basic information as the number of people living in their house, as well as the residents’ age, sex, marital status, education, and other demographic characteristics.
The government has allotted P1.6 billion for the census, which was originally scheduled to be conducted in 2005. The last count was undertaken in May 2000, which reported that the country’s population had hit 76.5 million. At present, the estimated population is 88 million.
The target release date of official population figures based on the ongoing census is on 28 February 2008.
SWS February 2007 poll shows hunger remains at all-time high
19 March 2007 – Social Weather Stations released today the results of its February 2007 nationwide hunger survey, which was conducted on 24 to 27 February. The survey reveals that overall hunger is still at an all-time high, with 19% of respondents, or 3.4 million households, reporting to have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. The record-high figure of 19% was first reached in the November 2006 survey.
Hunger worsened in Metro Manila, increasing to 20.7% from 17.7% in the November poll. The rest of Luzon and Mindanao also posted slight increases in the percentage of households experiencing hunger, with Luzon hitting 18.3% from 17.7%, and Mindanao inching up to 22.7% from 22.3%. On the other hand, in the Visayas, the proportion of households experiencing hunger in the past three months declined from 19.0% in November to 15.3% in February.
The nationwide survey interviewed 1,200 household heads, 300 from each of the four geographical categories: Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Exodus of OFWs affects quality of electorate, population growth
5 March 2007 - The migration of Filipino workers affects the political and social structure of the country, and this will become evident in the coming May elections.
During the stakeholders’ meeting for the fourth run of the State of the Philippine Population Report, Fernando Aldaba, chairman of Ateneo de Manila University’s economics department, said that one of the political costs of migration is the decline in the quality of the voting population. The high number of educated people leaving the country, coupled with the deteriorating quality of basic education locally, is seen to have an impact on the quality of decision making of the electorate. There will be an increased likelihood that candidates will be elected based on their popularity and not necessarily on their qualifications and platforms.
In the same meeting, economist Ernest Pernia pointed out that the growing number of teachers leaving the country will also affect the election process. Public-school teachers have long been an indispensable part of the vote-counting process at the precinct level and could be counted on to vote wisely.
Despite the Commission on Elections’ effort to promote overseas absentee voting, only 504,000 have registered to vote this May.
On the other hand, the Population Commission discussed its theory that the continuing migration of female workers helps ease the country’s population boom. At present, the Philippines ranks as the12th most populous nation in the world, with 2 million babies born every year.
Hunger hits 2.9M households
in Q3 – SWS
31 October 2006 – The third quarter 2006 hunger and poverty survey of the Social Weather Stations revealed that 2.9 million households, out of a projected base of 17.4 million households, experienced hunger in the past three months. This figure comprises 16.9% of Filipino families, a record-high that was first reached in the first quarter of this year.
However, the latest poll, conducted from 24 September to 2 October, also showed that while the incidence of hunger rose, the number of families who consider themselves poor dropped to 51% from 59% in the previous quarter. SWS concludes that while some families managed to cross the poverty line, “other families began to suffer the deep deprivation of hunger.”
SWS reported that Mindanao had the highest incidence of hunger among families with 21.3%, followed by the Visayas with 19.7%, Luzon with 14.7%, and Metro Manila with 12.8%.
RP lags in implementing Millennium Development Goals
6 October 2006 - Development experts are concerned about the Philippine’s capability to meet its targets related to the Millennium Development Goals, a global development framework that has been adopted by countries around the world.
Recently, UN resident coordinator Nileema Noble stated that “considerable work” still needs to be done for the Philippines to meet its goals towards substantially reducing poverty, hunger, and disease; improving the survival prospects of mothers and infants; better-educated children; equal opportunities for women; and a healthier environment.
Margarita Songco, deputy director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, has also stated that the country needs to address the resource gaps that hamper the implementation of its development plans. Songco revealed that the government plans to address the financing requirements by “improving and sustaining efforts to generate resources, particularly through tax collection reforms and advocating for increased official development assistance.”
The resource gap in 2007 alone is estimated to be as high as P91.9 billion, or about 1.4% of GDP, while the cumulative gap for years 2007–2010 could reach P394.7 billion.
IMF study reveals RP’s widening and rising income inequality
16 September 2006 – In the “Asia and Pacific Regional Economic Outlook” report released by the International Monetary Fund, the widening and rising income inequality in the Philippines was highlighted. The report says that the “rich getting richer, poor getting poorer” scenario has been the trend in the past decade for most Asian countries, particularly Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The Philippines earned 46.1 points in the Gini index, a common measure of inequality, ranking fifth in the highest income inequality in the 18 Asian countries surveyed.
Among other possible government actions, the IMF strongly recommended an increase in social and infrastructure spending in the rural areas to reduce the gap in the level of development of rural and urban areas, as well as help address the growing disparity of incomes.
Time to invest in the growing youth population—World Bank
16 September 2006 - Educate, train, empower, and safeguard the Filipino youth, and give delinquent kids a second chance. These are the key elements in taking advantage of the large, and still growing, population of Filipino youths, according to the World Development Report 2007 released by the World Bank.
In the Philippines, those aged 10 to 14 years comprise 11.7% of the population with nearly nine million kids, while those aged 14 to 20 years comprise 10.5% of the population, numbering eight million. The country’s youth population is expected to peak between 2010 and 2030.
This pattern of a growing youth population is being felt all over the world, with those aged 12 to 24 years worldwide now numbering 1.3 billion. The World Bank encouraged developing countries to take advantage of this window of opportunity by investing in the youth to avoid economic problems in the future.
CAMANAVA, QC worst hit by dengue
14 September 2006 – According to reports from the Department of Health, Metro Manila cities Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, and Quezon City have suffered the most number of dengue cases so far this year. Dengue cases in Metro Manila have risen to over 4,800 since January from just over 3,000 a year ago.
Although the alert level has been raised in the said areas, the increase in dengue cases is still not considered an outbreak unless the alert level is doubled. Except for the town of Morong in Rizal province, no dengue outbreak has been declared nationwide. Of the 84 dengue cases reported in Morong this year, five children have died.
RP poor worse off than prison inmates
10 August 2006 – According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, poor Filipinos lived off an average of P23.93 a day for food in 2004, much lower than the government’s P40.00-per-day food budget for an inmate in prison. The food threshold of poor families was pegged at P26.22 in urban areas and P23.42 in rural areas, but both amounts are still far less than what is spent for an inmate.
Officially, a family is considered poor if it cannot allocate daily P41.10 for food in the urban areas or P34.06 in the rural areas. According to the group Global Call to Action Against Poverty, however, the poverty and food thresholds set by the government are too low because it is impossible to live on those amounts. A representative of the group said they believe the government is keeping the thresholds low to project a more positive scenario than the actual situation.
Quality of basic education still poor—NSCB
4 July 2006 – According to a study conducted by the National Statistical Coordination Board, the results of a national achievement test for school year 2004–2005 revealed that, while there are some signs of improvement, “the quality of basic education in the country remains poor.”
The average overall achievement rate of Grade 6 pupils improved to 58.7% from the previous year’s 50%. On the other hand, fourth-year high-school students averaged 46.8% from the previous year’s 44.4%. Despite these improvements, however, the achievement rates are still far from ideal.
Eastern Visayas topped all 17 regions with an average rate of 69.2% for the elementary level and 58.6% for the secondary level. Metro Manila ranked 8th only for the elementary level with an average of 57.9%, and shared the 11th spot with Central Luzon for the secondary level at 45%. The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao fared last in both levels.
WB approves US$200M loan to improve basic education in RP
21 June 2006 – To help alleviate the declining quality and accessibility of elementary and secondary education in the Philippines, the World Bank has approved a US$200 million loan for the government’s National Program Support for Basic Education Project.
The loan is intended to assist the Department of Education in implementing its Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda, which is composed of four components: strengthened school-based management (US$71 million); improved teaching effectiveness (US$23 million); enhanced quality and equity through standards, assessment, and support (US$96 million); and effective resource mobilization (US$2 million). The project will be implemented this year until 2011, with a loan repayment period of 20 years and a grace period of 8 years.
14M Filipino children are poor—NSCB
14 June 2006 – According to the findings of a recent study conducted by the National Statistical Coordination Board, 14.093 million Filipino children, or 42.5% of the country’s children, suffer under the burden of poverty.
Based on year 2000 figures, the study covered eight sectors: children, the youth, women, senior citizens, the urban poor, migrant and formal workers, farmers, and fishermen. The number of poor Filipinos was highest in the children’s sector. The women’s sector came second with 12.227 million, the urban poor with 6.784 million, the youth with 5.476 million, migrant and formal workers with 2.622 million, farmers with 2.431 million, senior citizens with 1.277 million, and then the fishermen’s sector with 0.450 million poor members.
RP child nourishment “insufficient”—UNICEF
8 May 2006 – According to the UNICEF report “Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition” released this month, the country’s efforts in relation to the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals on child nutrition is “insufficient.” The Philippines has 3 million children under 5 years old who are underweight.
The report cites that the Philippines’ average annual rate of reduction, which measures progress in the reduction of the number of underweight children under 5 years old, is way off the required percentage for all countries. The required average annual rate of reduction is 2.8%, but the Philippines only posted 0.9%.
The reduction of child undernourishment is part of the Philippine commitment to eradicate poverty and improve human development by 2015 through the UN’s Millenium Development Goals.
SWS cites faltering English proficiency
19 April 2006 – A recent Social Weather Stations survey revealed an alarming decline in the overall English proficiency of Filipinos compared to previous survey results. The survey, conducted on 8–14 March, had 1,200 respondents.
The percentage of respondents who understood, read, wrote, spoke, and thought in English was at 65%, 65%, 48%, 32%, and 27%, respectively. The figures were lower by 11%–24% compared to surveys conducted in December 1993 and September 2000. Those who spoke English showed the biggest loss.
According to Department of Education officer in charge Fe Hidalgo, the use of “Taglish” among the youth and the lack of training of English teachers in public schools contributed to the decline. The crisis is feared to have a negative effect on the booming business process outsourcing sector.
The survey was commissioned by the Promoting English Proficiency Project, an initiative led by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and the Makati Business Club, with funding from Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc.
RP population over 140M by 2040
5 April 2006 – The Philippine population is expected to reach 141.7 million by 2040, almost double the 76.5 million count at the start of the millennium. According to the National Statistics Office, the population will continue to grow at an annual rate of 1.95% in the 2005 to 2010 period, increasing to 94.0 million in 2010 from 85.3 million in 2005.
In 2040, the population is expected to be older, as women are seen to give birth to fewer children and survival rates of all age groups are anticipated to improve.
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