The DLSU - Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies
 
cordially invites you to the
 
Hybrid Lecture Seminar
 
titled
 
“Poverty Is Real, but Its Measurement Is Not Automatic: Understanding Poverty Statistics and Their Policy Implications”

by
 
Jose Ramon G. Albert, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow, PIDS
Former Secretary-General, Defunct NSCB
 
 
Discussants
Professor Nanak Kakwani
Distinguished Fellow, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, India
 
and
 
Dr. Celia Reyes
Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)
 
on
 
September 1, 2026, Tuesday | 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM | Onsite: Room 1505, Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, DLSU | Online: Zoom
 
To join, please register through this link: https://forms.gle/PVuMRAUdxvP82CK99

or scan the QR code at the poster.

The talk's core point is that poverty is real, but the numbers describing it are never automatic. Each poverty estimate depends on three choices, namely the welfare indicator, the poverty line, and the summary measure, so the figures are valuable for budgeting, targeting, and monitoring but must be read with care, since bad measurement produces bad policy. Using the Philippines as its case, the talk shows poverty falling over time yet still fragile, moving with income growth, with how equally that growth is shared, and with shocks such as disasters, illness, the pandemic, and fuel-price hikes. It argues that the fifteen-year-old methodology is due for review and that a single money metric misses much, pointing to multidimensional poverty, inequality, hidden poverty within households, movement in and out of poverty, and self-rated poverty, where about half of Filipinos consider themselves poor. These complement rather than replace income poverty. The closing message is to pair inclusive growth with well-targeted social protection, investment in human development and resilience, and stronger data systems, while treating poor people with dignity rather than as statistics.
 
 
 Speaker: Dr. Jose Ramon Albert is a distinguished statistician and policy researcher with over two decades of experience in development economics and public policy. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), a think tank affiliated with the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), he brings extensive expertise to policy research and analysis. His career highlights include serving as Secretary General (Undersecretary) of the National Statistical Coordination Board from 2012 to 2014. He has significantly contributed to various fields including poverty measurement, education policy, social protection, gender studies, climate change, and data analytics. Dr. Albert's research portfolio spans critical development issues, with recent notable publications including: "An Examination of Poverty Among Elderly in Asia and the Pacific" (2024); "Returns to Education in the Philippines (2005–2022): Declining Benefits, Increased Inequities" (2024); "Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education for All" (2023); "Energy Saving Behaviours of Middle Class Households in Ghana, Peru and the Philippines" (2022). As a sought-after consultant, he has collaborated with major international organizations including the World Bank Group, various United Nations agencies, the Asian Development Bank, and the UK Department for International Development. His academic influence extends across several Philippine institutions, including the Asian Institute of Management, University of the Philippines, and De La Salle University. Dr. Albert holds leadership positions in key professional organizations, serving as Past President of the Philippine Statistical Association, Inc. (2004, 2005, 2014-2015). He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the National Research Council of the Philippines, and a Fellow of the Social Weather Stations. His educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.S. in Statistics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1993, 1989), and a Mathematics degree (Summa Cum Laude) from De La Salle University (1988). He currently serves on international advisory bodies including the UN Global Pulse Data Privacy Advisory Group and the Myanmar National Community Development Project Technical Advisory Unit.