Who's poor?

They say that most Filipinos are living in poverty. But I believe that assessment depends of your perspective of poor.

Wikipedia defines poverty as "deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, but also 'intangibles' such as the opportunity to learn and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens."

On my way home from a meeting outside of the office, I saw a man watching an afternoon tv show on his free time inside the Quinta Market in Quiapo near the Pasig Ferry terminal. (see separate story in my commuter blog)



His TV set has a 15" screen and he uses a cable television line as an antenna. While he watches free TV broadcasts, his neighbors up ahead have cable TV connection and are watching the Pinoy Box Office channel.

So, if poverty is defined as deprivation of those essentials mentioned above, then I believe this man is not inside the poverty level.

But then again, there is a so called poverty threshold which measures poverty based on income levels.

So who's to say someone is poor?