Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Definition of Terms. -For purposes of this Act, the following terms are hereby defined:

(a) Basic Sectors shall refer to the disadvantaged sectors of Philippine society including farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector including migrant workers, workers in the informal sector, indigenous peoples and cultural communities, women, persons with disability, senior citizens, victims of calamities/natural and human-induced disasters, youth and students, children, urban poor and members of cooperatives;

(b) Development Partners shall refer to NGOs, POs and private organizations and corporations that are engaged in programs and activities aimed at alleviating the condition of the poor;

(c) Hazardous/Danger Zones shall refer to areas which, when occupied for residential or business purposes, pose a danger to the life and safety of the occupants or of the general public;

(d) Nongovernment Organizations (NGOs) shall refer to duly registered nonstock, nonprofit organizations focusing on the upliftment of the basic sectors of society by providing advocacy, training, community organizing, research, access to resources, protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources and other similar activities;

(e) Peoples Organizations (POs) shall refer to self-help groups belonging to the basic sectors composed of members having a common bond of interest who voluntarily join together to achieve a lawful common social or economic end;

(f) Poor shall refer to individuals or families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and/or who cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide then minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, or other essential amenities of life, as defined under Republic Act No. 8425, otherwise known as the "Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act". In determining who constitute the poor, the Multidimensional Poverty Index determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shall be considered;

(g) National Poverty Reduction Plan shall refer to the aggregation and consolidation of sectoral and local plans through a bottom-up approach, from the Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan towards the formulation of the national plan; and

(h) Progressive Realization shall refer to a process of implementation which will be paced according to the availability of funds and which adjusts to the exigencies of the times.