Metro Manila, Philippines – The government has raised its controversial ₱64 daily food poverty threshold, now classifying those who cannot afford ₱85 a day for food as extremely poor and in need of government assistance.
Senate finance committee chairman Win Gatchalian disclosed the update on the second day of budget debates on the proposed ₱6.793-trillion budget for 2026 on Monday, Nov. 17.
“It was just recently updated because the survey was recently concluded,” Gatchalian said.
The senator also reported that the overall poverty threshold for basic daily needs in Metro Manila is now at ₱131 per person, or ₱655 per day for a family of five.
The updated thresholds were formulated in coordination with the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which rely on poverty data to determine eligibility for social welfare programs, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
During the budget deliberations, Senator Loren Legarda revisited last year’s public backlash over the previously reported ₱64 daily food threshold, which critics argued was far too low to sustain three adequate meals a day.
In an e-mail to NewsWatch Plus, the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development explained that the food threshold is based on the least-cost combination of food items required to meet the minimum calorie requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.
According to the 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, about 2.99 million families, or 17.54 million Filipinos, are living below the poverty line.
