THE Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) said it will overhaul the food poverty threshold in 2026, which is currently set at P64 per person per day.
“We will be revising the poverty threshold,” Economy Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon told a Senate Finance Committee briefing on Monday, adding that new data will be incorporated from the 2024 census.
Sen. Loren Regina B. Legarda called the P64 threshold an “out-of-touch economic benchmark.”
According to the 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), the monthly food poverty threshold for a family of five was P9,581, or about P64 per person a day.
Economy Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan has admitted that P64 was outdated and committed to revise it. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has also called it “insufficient” and not reflective of actual food spending.
Ms. Edillon said the revised threshold will consider factors such as age, sex, and size, which affect nutritional requirements.
“The 2025 FIES is currently being conducted. The PSA has finished the first round covering the first semester of 2025. The second round covering July until December will be conducted in January to February of 2026. Results will be available sometime in July next year,” she said.
Updated methodology will be submitted to the PSA Board for approval and will be applied to the 2025 FIES data. Until then, the 2023 threshold remains in use. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante