President Marcos talked about crime and defense, but Filipinos feel poorer

In his third State of the Nation address, Philippine President Marcos announced the end of concessions to offshore casino operators and reiterated the need to defend the country’s territory, even after the agreement reached in recent hours with Beijing on supplies in the South China Sea. Despite the data displayed by the government, a recent report indicates that the perception of poverty among families is increasing.

Manila () – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his third annual State of the Nation address today in a capital besieged by Typhoon Carina, which forced the closure of schools in neighbouring provinces. It was also significant that a new report on family poverty was published that same day, as well as details of a sort of agreement reached yesterday with China regarding claims in the South China Sea.

In his address to the two houses of Parliament, Marcos stressed the government’s commitment to fighting crime, giving priority to cybercrime. In the past two years, there has been a drop of more than 10% in some crimes, said the Philippine president. The announcement on the end of concessions to offshore casino operators was greeted with long applause. This is indeed an issue that conflicts with common sensibilities and was leading to negative economic consequences, as well as opening the door to transnational crime.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry also reiterated the need to modernize and strengthen the armed forces for defensive purposes, a statement made the day after the agreement reached with Beijing on the refueling of the ship Sierra Madre, which, voluntarily stranded on a sandbank in a maritime zone claimed by the Chinese, serves as a basis for supporting Manila’s rights in an area of ​​its own economic competence. According to what the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called a “provisional agreement” (neither country has published the text), both parties recognize “the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea and manage differences through dialogue and consultation,” the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported, clarifying that “the agreement will not affect the respective maritime positions.” However, Beijing has asked Manila to restore the original status of the atoll – known as Second Thomas Shoal – by removing the crew and the structures present, and has accepted that for the moment only supplies of essential items will be made.

Contrary to what was claimed in the State of the Nation Address, independent research reveals the overall failure of the Marcos administration (in office since June 2022) to alleviate the economic hardships of the majority of the population. According to a report by Social Weather Station, there are approximately 16 million households that are considered poor, a percentage of 58% of the total, of which 43% report being affected by food poverty, the highest level recorded since September 2002.

Surveys conducted by Social Weather Station confirm that the perception of poverty today exceeds that immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic and is also accelerating, given that in March there were 12.9 million families who considered themselves poor.

The survey also found that another 12 percent of the families surveyed are considered to be in the poverty line and 30 percent in the well-off range. Geographically, the central part of the archipelago, the Visayas, has the highest perceived poverty rate, at 67 percent of families, while Metro Manila has the lowest rate, at 39 percent.

However, the number of families that consider themselves “not poor” has increased by 22 percentage points from 8% in 1991, the lowest level in recent history, although it still represents less than a third of the population today.

The results compare with those released last year by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which found that 17.54 million people (out of a population of 119 million) are unable to meet their basic needs, down from 18.1 percent of the population in 2021 to 15.5 percent in 2023, a figure Marcos highlighted in his State of the Nation address. In total, the Authority says, three million families are living in the worst poverty, the same level as before the pandemic.