Vancouver Edition
PLANET
The highest income of the top 20 percent of the population accounted for over half of the total family income. CCT (conditional cash transfer) dole outs and pantawid measures,” Reyes said. Citing data from the National Statistics Office in 2009, Bayan said the highest income of the top 20 percent of the population already accounted for over half (51.9 percent) of the total family income leaving the poorest 80 percent to divide the remaining 48.1 percent among them. “The top ten in the latest Forbes list already control almost everything from energy, transportation, real-estate, mining, banking, toll ways and many others. They are part of the powerful 1% of Philippine society,” Reyes said.
Aquino’s “Conditional Cash Transfer“ Program is not an effective way to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, according to Bayan’s Reyes. A separate report from Ibon Foundation says that severe inequality in the country can be seen by comparing reports by Forbes on the wealthiest Filipinos with the results of the 2009 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. In 2009, the net worth of the 25 richest Filipinos of US$21.4 billion is equivalent to the combined annual income of the country’s poorest 11.1 million families, according to Ibon. n
PHILIPPINES
AUGUST 1-15, 2012