Food budget of 64 pesos per day ‘insufficient’, admits statistics agency

MANILA: The country’s statistics agency admitted that the food poverty threshold of P63.87 (US$1) per person a day is ‘insufficient’, stating that it will review the methodology for calculating poverty and food thresholds next year.

“It’s really insufficient but [the way] we set up the food threshold and the poverty threshold is the minimum basic needs, so it’s the least cost,” National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said during a briefing.