FACT CHECK: Marcos’ claim on ‘decreased’ poverty index in BARMM needs context

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the poverty index in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has “significantly decreased” since 2018 due to an “improved peace and order and good governance” in the region.

This needs context. Records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that the region still has the highest poverty incidence in the country.

STATEMENT

In his third State of the Nation Address on July 22, Marcos said:

“The improved peace and order situation, good governance, not to mention high hopes and confidence amongst its people all contribute to reasons why BARMM’s poverty index has significantly decreased since 2018.”

Source: RTVMalacanang, State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2024, July 22, 2024, watch from 1:35:20 to 1:35:34

FACT

Poverty figures in the BARMM have, indeed, decreased since 2018. But it remains to have the highest poverty incidence in the country at 34.8% as of the first half of 2023, according to PSA.

The PSA noted that its data did not include 63 barangays from North Cotabato, which are now part of BARMM.

Poverty incidence shows the percentage of people with incomes below the minimum needed for basic needs, while intensity measures the severity of poverty based on how deprived the people are across various factors.

In a July 2023 report from the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, the BARMM had the highest multidimensional poverty index (MPI) score at 0.101, four times the national MPI.

The MPI measures “multiple deprivations at the household and individual level in health, education and standard of living.”

A higher MPI means a higher proportion of people are poor, or those who are poor are experiencing more deprivations in multiple aspects of life.

Poverty incidence is determined by assessing five fundamental rights of the poor: the right to food, employment and livelihood, quality education, shelter, and basic health services and medicines.

Editor’s note: This fact check was produced with the help of a journalism student of the University of the Philippines Diliman as part of their internship at VERA Files.