Thursday, June 12, 2008
Guv questions context of NSCB poverty estimates
CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday lashed out at the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) for reporting that Cebu Province has the most number of poor families, at 184,207, in the region.
The report is contained in the NSCB triennial poverty estimates.
While she is not questioning the NSCB data, Garcia said she wondered if the board estimates bothered to get the percentage, and not the number, of poor families in the Province.
“Well, I do not question their data but I would just like to ask if they (NSCB) properly coordinated with the local government units (LGUs),” Garcia told reporters yesterday.
The poverty estimates identified Cebu as the province in Central Visayas with the most number of poor families at 184,207.
The NSCB poverty estimates, which were conducted in 2006 yet, were presented to the Regional Development Council (RDC)–Economic Development Committee (EDC) during a meeting last week.
Negros Oriental follows Cebu with 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 in the country live in Region 7.
Garcia explained that Cebu is the “most populous” province in Central Visayas thus she said it’s not surprising that most of poor families in the region are in the Province.
The governor said Capitol has its own data of poor families. In it, she said, they match the figures of indigent families as basis for enrollment to their anti-poverty program.
The Provincial Government is in the right position on the subject of poor families and poverty, the governor said.
“I wonder if they also have the number of rich families in the Province,” said Garcia.
Central Visayas 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. (GMD)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 12, 2008 issue)
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