Monday, April 24, 2006
Sultan Kudarat is poorest in Central Mindanao
KORONADAL CITY -- Of the 45 municipalities in Central Mindanao, Sen. Ninoy Aquino in Sultan Kudarat Province emerged as the poorest town, the National Statistical Coordination Board recently reported.
The board's chief Herlita Caraan said three of every four residents in Sen. Ninoy Aquino are living below the poverty line.
The town is being groomed as coffee-growing area in Central Mindanao.
Some 2,400 hectares of coffee plantation already exist in Senator Ninoy Aquino as officials expect to expand it to 3,600 hectares in the next five years.
Next to Senator Aquino, poverty is also severe in T'boli town in South Cotabato at 73.67 percent.
The other three poorest towns in the bottom-five list (above 70 percent) poverty incidence rate) also come from Sultan Kudarat province. These are Columbio (72.20), Lutayan, (71.965) and Bagumbayan (71.26).
Caraan said they conducted "Small Area Estimation" in collaboration with the World Bank to determine poverty statistics down to the municipal and city levels.
The measurement of poverty, she added, is a key contribution in monitoring the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.
For the provinces in the region, Sarangani has the highest poverty incidence at 63.28 percent. South Cotabato, on the other hand, registered the lowest incidence at 34.89 percent.
Poverty incidence in North Cotabato Province was estimated at 55.53 percent while Sultan Kudarat has 59.86 percent.
"Generally, the incidence of poverty is higher in rural areas than in urban areas," the report said.
Three of Soccsksargen region provinces were included in the top 10 poorest provinces in the country, it added.
Sulu and Maguindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao topped the list posting 67.53 percent and 66.87 percent poverty incidence, respectively.
Sarangani was fourth following the province of Masbate where 64.29 percent of the populace is poor.
Sultan Kudarat landed on the sixth spot while North Cotabato Province was 10th.
For the cities in Central Mindanao, Cotabato City posted the highest incidence of poverty with 36.10 percent, followed by Kidapawan City with 34.25 percent.
General Santos City has the least poor population with 20.28 percent. Incidence of poverty in Koronadal and Tacurong were estimated at 27.75 percent and 33.05 percent, respectively.
The study also showed that only nine municipalities in Central Mindanao registered poverty incidence below 50 percent.
The municipality of Polomolok in South Cotabato registered the lowest incidence with 28.69 percent.
Six other municipalities of South Cotabato posted incidence below 50 percent. These are Sto. Niño (35.60 percent), Norala (39.97 percent), Surallah (42.64 percent), Banga (47.09 percent), Tantangan (48.06 percent), Tampakan (49.12 percent). The other municipalities in the list were Kabacan in North Cotabato with 46.55 percent and Isulan in Sultan Kudarat with 45.81 percent. (RBS)
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(April 24, 2006 issue)
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