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Thursday, June 08, 2006
1.6M Filipinos improve lives, get out of poverty: gov’t stats
MANILA - Extreme poverty levels in the Philippines have declined slightly to about 30 percent of the population, with minority Muslims improving their lot significantly, the government said yesterday.
“In terms of population, 30 out of 100 Filipinos in 2003 had income short of the minimum cost of satisfying the basic requirements, an improvement from 2000 (when) 33 out of 100 Filipinos (were) ... below the poverty threshold,” the National Statistical Coordination Board said.
That improvement took 1.6 million Filipinos out of poverty.
The government agency puts the per capita poverty threshold at P35.93 pesos a day in income, enough to buy about 1.5 kilograms of rice.
Two dollars
The World Bank estimates that 40 percent of Filipinos live on two dollars a day or less.
Three predominantly Muslim provinces in the south—Sulu, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi—hauled themselves off the 2000 list of the 10 poorest, with double-digit declines in the incidence of poverty, the government agency said in a statement.
These areas, which form part of a Muslim self-rule area called the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have benefited from large-scale government and international aid since the signing of a peace treaty between Manila and separatist rebels in 1996.
10 poorest
The government is observing a three year-old ceasefire with another Muslim separatist group in the area and hopes to sign a wider political settlement later this year.
However, the government survey also found that six other provinces in the south, many of them with substantial Muslim populations, are now among the 10 poorest provinces in the mainly Roman Catholic country. (AFP)
6.
Councilors withdraw objection to project
After a meeting with Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the Municipal Council of Carmen decided to no longer move for the cancellation of the water permit of Ayala Corp. to draw water from the town’s Luyang River.
The councilors initially felt bypassed after the deal between Ayala Corp. and the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) was completed and signed with the mayor without informing them.
Last month, the council agreed to ask for the cancellation of the water permit from the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).
But in a meeting with Garcia last Tuesday, the council members admitted that their earlier pronouncement was just an “emotional response.”
Benefit
After the conflict was reported, Garcia immediately initiated a meeting to thresh out the issues that the municipal council raised.
She met with Mayor Virgillo Villamor, the vice mayor and the members of the council.
Garcia said she does not want to interfere with their stand on the issue, but she just wants to come up with a win-win solution on the matter.
In a press conference yesterday, Garcia said the Council saw the benefit that they will get if companies will compete for the water contract.
Ayala has a P2-billion bulk water supply project and recently completed negotiations to sell water to the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD).
Yet, the Ayala contract would still be published so other companies could present better options, a proposal that Ayala will have to match.
Better options
“May it be water or power issue, the public will benefit from a competition,” said Garcia.
The Province is a deputized agent of the National Water Resources Board, so Garcia assured that it will endorse any application for permit that could offer the municipality better options.
Carmen is projected to earn P0.22 for every cubic meter extracted from its river, but the cost of water set in the agreement between Ayala and MCWD is P24 per cubic meter.
Ayala is expected to deliver an average of 40,000 cubic meters of water a day to MCWD.
The 22-centavo per cubic meter royalty fee offered by Ayala to Carmen was also an issue because it is much less than what another town, Compostela, has been receiving.
Compostela reportedly gets P1.20 per cubic meter of water extracted from the town by a private firm.
Last Monday, Visayas Ombudsman Director Virginia Palanca-Santiago told Carmen officials to read documents first before signing.
Carmen councilors claimed they signed the contract with Ayala Corp. without reading it and later found that the contract they signed was not the same one they approved and had some insertions. (MBG)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 8, 2006 issue)
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