Survival in terms of mugs of coffee

A FEW coins less than the price of four tall mugs of coffee from your favorite coffee shop, or P278.76 per day, is the amount a family of six needs to meet its basic needs to survive in Metro Manila these days, according to the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR).

But how do people stretch P278.76 per day? The amount, says CWR, can consist of 10 basic commodities, namely, rice (P25), sardines (P9.96), noodles (P5.02), sugar (P37.50), milk (P43.85), coffee (P15.41), cooking oil (P19), galunggong (P90), laundry soap (P5.92), and liquefied petroleum gas (P17.1). The calculation is based on surveys the center carried out twice monthly since June last year, when the cost of all these goods was P253.09, or 9.21 percent lower than the current tag price.

With the minimum wage in the National Capital Region pegged at P362 per day, families with sole breadwinners are therefore left with just P83.24 to cover other non-food daily needs like rent, clothing and transportation. That translates to just another tall mug of coffee.

The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) computes that for a family of six to live decently, a “living wage” of P793 is needed. The current minimum wage only covers 45.6 percent of that requirement.

Yet the Arroyo administration computed early this year that a person needs only P30.70 for food and P20.97 for non-food requirements, for a total of P51.67 daily. Once this is met, a person is considered above the poverty line. For families of five in urban areas, government says an income of P219.19 is enough for them to be considered non-poor. In the rural areas, the income should be P181.48. With these figures, the Arroyo administration effectively sets aside the estimates on living wage by the NWPC, its own wage-setting agency.

But IBON Foundation, an independent research institution, warns that these figures do not represent the realities of urban and rural poverty. In its March 2007 report, IBON pointed out that the number of urban poor families — recently estimated at more than 30 million — has increased by 11 percent since 1997.

IBON added that seven of the country’s regions have recorded a 20-percent increase in their urban poor families. “In the rural areas where 71 percent of the country’s poor reside, poverty and hunger incidences remain high,” the report said.

Moreover, IBON counted some 9,900 farms vanishing yearly due to urbanization, and that upon reaching the cities, displaced farm workers have to deal with industrial bankruptcy at the rate of eight establishments closing down every day. Forty percent of the urban poor are living in 600 slum areas nationwide, in inhumane conditions along railways and waterways, under bridges, and on dumpsites.

However, many of them are excluded from poverty estimation. IBON said those without official and permanent residence are not included in the government count, thereby reducing the absolute number of poor people.

“The attempt to paint a rosy picture through statistical manipulation is not succeeding as the country is replete with faces of poverty and miserable conditions,” IBON said, citing around 65 million Filipinos or 80 percent of the population who are struggling to survive on the equivalent of US$2 a day.

Or what amounts to a mug and a half of barista-served coffee.