Tuesday, June 10, 2008 184T poor families By Jujemay G. Awit Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A PERSON living in Central Visayas needs P1,116 a month to survive, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said in its triennial poverty estimates.
This means that a family of five needs at least a monthly income of P5,579 to meet basic food and non-food requirements.
The poverty estimates also identified Cebu as the province in Central Visayas with the most number of poor families at 184,207.
The NSCB poverty estimates, however, were done in 2006 yet and were presented to the Regional Development Council (RDC)–Economic Development Committee (EDC) meeting last Friday.
Negros Oriental follows Cebu with the 110,724 poor families. Bohol and Siquijor have 92,354 and 4,199 poor families, respectively.
Nationwide, Central Visayas ranked third in the list. The region was fourth in 2003 and third in 2000.
About 8.4 percent of poor families live in Region 7.
The 2006 ranking had Western Visayas topping the list of regions with the most number of poor families followed by Bicol Region. Both were consistent in their rankings since 2000 and 2003.
“Notwithstanding the fact that 8.4 percent of the country’s poor families are in Central Visayas, the region has not been placed among the category of the poorest regions in the country since its poverty incidence is lower compared to that of the other regions,” read the brief of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7, which presented the poverty estimates to the RDC-EDC.
Poverty incidence, according to Neda 7, is the percentage of families with per capita income lower than the minimum income required for an individual to meet the basic requirements of living.
The NSCB pegged that minimum income at P1,116 a month for every individual.
Central Visayas figured ranked 11th among the 17 regions with the highest poverty incidence in the country. Poverty incidence was at 30.3 percent.
In 2000, Central Visayas was 10th and 13th in 2003.
The top three are Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Region 13 – Caraga and Region 4-B – Mimaropa.
In Central Visayas, Negros Oriental had the highest poverty incidence with 43.7 percent followed by Bohol with 38.8.
Cebu ranked third with a poverty incidence of 23.5 percent, just slightly higher than Siquijor with 22.3 percent. (JGA)
