0.5. This paper seeks to discuss the role of statistics in comparing disparities in selected special concerns and the problems faced in carrying out this task. A brief survey of the region largely taken from the yearbook, "The Far East and Australasia" (27th edition) will be presented in the first part. Then the situation in the Philippines will be presented and compared, after which some data issues related to concepts and methods will be tackled.
PART I. REGIONAL SURVEY
1.0. Income, Employment And Poverty
1.1. "The preoccupation with the narrowing gap postulated by Malthus between means of production and population numbers has led to an obvious emphasis on the need for rapid economic growth or 'development' and deceleration of population growth. Unfortunately, the analysis has usually been carried out at the national, gross level and usually purely in monetary terms (per capita income). Only recently have attempts been made to extend concept of development beyond that of economic performance and to see social needs and aspirations as being intimately intertwined in the process of development. Similarly, only recently have attempts been made to analyze the scope and nature of internal inequalities within nations .... per capita income figures given in the table below do give a reasonably correct view of the relative levels of affluence among countries, but they do not identify the enormous inequalities of income that occur in the least developed of the countries of the region. Estimates of the percentage of the population living at poverty level vary enormously, but, whichever measure is taken, the result is disturbing." 3 The table below shows the GNP per head of the various countries in Asia.4
1.2. "Within rural areas, land ownership is a crucial measure and criterion of poverty and social well being...The statistics on distribution of holdings are endless, but typically the poorest 250% of the rural households possess hardly any
3 Michael Williams, "Population in Asia and the Pacific," The Far East and Australasia, 1996, p. ll.
4 Extracted from Table 2 (Population and Income of Selected Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region) of The Far East and Australasia, p.2.
