Discussions on poverty alleviation in the Philippines often obscure discourses related to the role of those who are not poor, failing to locate poverty within the social inequalities in Philippine society. This article applies social psychological approaches to inquiry on poverty and privilege and assumes that one reason poverty persists is that policies to fight poverty are not being pushed by many privileged Filipinos who hold social motives, beliefs and attitudes that make them more likely to oppose anti-poverty policies. Social psychological theories are used to 1) discuss the half-blindness of privilege that normalizes the experience of wealthy Filipinos; 2) explore the social dominance motive and social beliefs used; and 3) justify social inequalities and privilege. Some general suggestions are proposed on how to target motives, beliefs and attitudes so that Filipinos from all sectors can be allies in pushing for policies that minimize socioeconomic inequalities in Philippine society.