LABTINGAW FISH BE WITH YOU. Mitzi Rubio, 29 and a mother of two arranges her labtingaw, a significantly less salty and less dry version of bulad (dried fish) near their house on stilts in a swamp area in Dipolog City, Mindanao on December 23, 2023.

She said her husband’s income as a part time tailor is not enough for their family food requirements.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 2 out of 10 or 25.44 million Filipinos were poor in the first half of 2023 and the subsistence incidence says 9.79 million persons can’t buy their basic food needs.

Meanwhile, a Social Weather Stations survey covering the period Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 found that 48 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as poor, 25 percent said they were not poor and 27 percent rated themselves on the borderline. (Photo: Jimmy A. Domingo)