THE Philippine Institute for Development Studies classifies Filipino households into socioeconomic strata based on estimated monthly income ranges. In 2025, Class A (considered rich) comprises those earning more than P219,140, while Class B (upper middle, but not yet rich) covers those earning between P131,483 and P219,140.
The poor (Class E) earn below P10,957, followed by Class D (low-income, but not yet poor), which earns between P10,957 and P21,914. The largest share of the population — estimated at between 48 percent and 70 percent — belongs to Class C, the middle class.
Classes D and E, considered vulnerable sectors, are constant targets of government assistance programs. They are the beneficiaries of Tupad (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers), AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita), 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), SAP (Social Amelioration Program) and other acronym-bearing government assistance packages.
Middle-income families, whether in times of crisis or emergency, remain unattended to by the government. Data show that over time, without assistance when it is most needed, affected families in the lower-middle-income group slide down into Class D.
Ironically, the middle-income group is the working class of society. It is they who contribute, through taxes, the bulk of the funds the government channels into assistance programs designed for the poor.
Executive Order 110
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) 110 on March 24, declaring a state of national energy emergency in response to the ongoing conflict between the US/Israel alliance and Iran in the Middle East, and the “resulting imminent danger posed upon the availability and stability of the country’s energy supply.”
Under Section 2 of the EO, the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport (Uplift) is adopted as the whole-of-government response framework, tasked to safeguard national interest by ensuring the stability of the domestic energy supply for the welfare of all citizens, with particular attention to the vulnerable sectors.
The powers and functions of the Uplift committee, as enumerated in Section 4, specify in paragraph (c) that it will safeguard economic stability “while protecting vulnerable sectors from adverse impacts and severe disruptions caused by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.” It is unmistakably clear that only the vulnerable sectors are to be protected. What about the middle class? Are they not equally affected by soaring fuel and energy prices?
In fact, the government has already distributed fuel subsidy allocations to public utility jeepneys and tricycle drivers to protect their take-home pay amid rising gasoline and diesel prices. But what about office workers belonging to the middle class? Are they not hurt just as much by escalating fuel costs?
Section 6 (b) directs the Department of Social Welfare and Development to “expedite the release of assistance under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS)... and other vulnerable groups.” There it is again — relief measures directed exclusively at the poor and lower-income classes, with nothing extended to the middle class.
Mind the middle class
Across socioeconomic classes, government assistance programs — from cash transfers to fuel subsidies to emergency relief — are consistently designed with vulnerable sectors in mind, and rightly so. But the middle class, which quietly shoulders the tax burden that funds these programs, is left to fend for itself each time a crisis strikes.
It is the middle class that pays the taxes. It is the same middle class that keeps the economy moving. And it is the middle class that is left out in the cold whenever government aid is distributed. They do not qualify for Tupad, AKAP, 4Ps or AICS. They receive no fuel subsidies. They are simply expected to absorb every shock that comes their way. The middle class is too “stable” to qualify for assistance, yet too exposed to escape its absence.
The neglect of the middle class has gone on for far too long — something the government should no longer ignore. The middle class now demands a government that governs for all — not just for those at the margins, but for every middle-income Filipino who has been keeping this country afloat.
A government that only sees the extremes — the poorest and the most powerful — risks hollowing out the very center that holds the nation together.
Must the government wait until the middle class disappears before it acts?
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