(File photo)
MANILA – A former executive of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) on Monday said the Philippines can achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal to end poverty by 2030 through the crafting of a national agenda to systematically address the problem.
During a televised Laging Handa briefing, former NAPC director John Laña said the global goal is still achievable if an NAPC Action Agenda is formulated and all the development plans, whether national, regional, or local, are anchored on this roadmap.
Laña also noted that this could also be key to attain the 25-year long term vision to end poverty in the country by 2040 under the Philippine government's AmBisyon 2040.
"Tingin ko kaya natin ito kung ang National Anti-Poverty Commission, kung saan ang Pangulo ng bansa mismo ang siyang chairperson nito at lahat ng ahensiya ng gobyerno ay nandoon, lahat ng local government units ay nandoon, at ang 14 basic sectors ay nandoon ay mag-usap-usap at gawin po ang inuutos ng batas, iyong Republic Act 8425, inuutos kasi po na bago po i-address ang poverty ay bumuo po muna ng National Anti-Poverty Action Agenda o iyong NAPAA (I think we can do this if the National Anti-Poverty Commission--wherein the President of the country is the chairperson himself, and all the government agencies, local government units, and 14 basic sectors are involved--will discuss and follow the law under Republic Act 8425, which requires the creation of a National Anti-Poverty Action Agenda to address the poverty problem)," he said.
Laña, however, pointed out that the only time the Philippine government was able to formulate the action agenda was during the administration of President Joseph Estrada.
"After President Erap, hanggang sa ngayon po ay wala po tayong nagawang National Anti-Poverty Commission Action Agenda at kahit po ang NAPC sa ngayon, ako po ay nalulungkot, Mahal na Pangulo, dahil wala pa rin po tayong na-appoint na secretary ng NAPC (After President Erap, there is still no National Anti-Poverty Commission Action Agenda, and even the NAPC, I'm sad to say, still does not have an appointed secretary)," he said.
He appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint a new lead convenor of the NAPC so that the anti-poverty commission could start crafting the action agenda to eradicate poverty.
The Marcos administration crafted an eight-point socioeconomic agenda to achieve its goals under the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF).
Under the MTFF, the government aims to achieve 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent GDP growth in 2022; a 9 percent or single-digit poverty rate by 2028; 3 percent national government deficit to GDP ratio by 2028; and less than 60 percent national government debt-to-GDP ratio by 2025.
According to World Bank's Poverty and Shared Prosperity report, the world is unlikely to meet the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
The study showed that global progress in reducing extreme poverty has come to a standstill.
"Covid-19 dealt the biggest setback to global poverty-reduction efforts since 1990 and the war in Ukraine threatens to make matters worse," it said.
The global body estimated that the pandemic dragged nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, the biggest one-year hike since global poverty monitoring began in 1990.
"As a result, an estimated 719 million people subsisted on less than USD2.15 a day by the end of 2020," it said. (PNA)
