THE Regional Development Council (RDC), through its social development committee and three of the region’s poorest towns, signed a pact to raise the economic status of these municipalities on their way to becoming self-reliant.

The towns of Kapangan and Kibungan in Benguet and Natonin in Mt. Province have been piloted for the preparation of the poverty maps project funded under the Special Autonomy Fund of the RDC.

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Among the agreements in the covenant include the cooperation among the local government units, the RDC and other government line agencies for poverty reduction, to be attained through the stakeholders active participation and fund counter-parting on poverty reduction programs.

The poverty mapping project aims to guide local government units in identifying programs and projects which need interventions and the preparation of project proposals for possible funding.

National Economic and Development Authority–Cordillera Director Juan Ngalob said maps are one of the vital tools in viewing a locality’s economic status.

The project is part of the RDC’s bid for autonomy, which, Ngalob said, could be achieved if all localities are economically self-reliant.

The three pilot towns are included in the poorest provinces in the region.

Based on the 2003 poverty estimate of the National Statistical and Coordination Board, Natonin ranks 11th among the 77 towns in poverty incidence, while Kapangan and Kibungan rank 25th and 37th, respectively.