NORTHERN Mindanao hosted the 6th Regional Sectoral Assembly (RSA) of National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) last Thursday, January 30, at the Chali Beach Resort in Barangay Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City.
The Regional Sectoral Assembly or RSA aims to broaden the space for basic sector participation and ensure a more equitable regional representation; validate the list of organizations present in the regions and map-ut possible delegates to the National Sectoral Assemblies; develop a region-specific sectoral and cross-sectoral reform agenda and action plan; and organize interim government-basic sectors regional coordination mechanisms.
According to NAPC secretary Noel Felongco, they decided to hold the RSA in Northern Mindanao, owing to the success of all its provinces in reducing poverty incidence.
Based on the data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the 41.9 percent poverty incidence among population in 2015 in Northern Mindanao went down to 31.5 percent in 2018.
“This data is an indicator of the continuous development of Northern Mindanao. In fact, in an economic briefing last April 2019, PSA-Region 10 said the robust economy of Northern Mindanao surpassed the national 2018 average Gross Domestic Product of 6.2 percent,” Felongco said.
The poverty incidence among the population in the Philippines, meanwhile, dropped from 23.3 percent in 2015 to 16.6 percent in 2018.
The poverty incidence among families, on the other hand, fell from 17.9 percent in 2015 to 12.1 percent in 2018.
Felongco said the general decline can be attributed to the growth in employment in the manufacturing and construction sectors as well as employment shifts to the industry and service sectors from agriculture.
“Even though we have successfully reduced these numbers, we still have a long way to go. If we translate our country’s overall poverty incidence at 16.6 percent, this means that there are roughly 18 million Filipinos who do not have income that meet the poverty threshold or the minimum amount needed to meet the basic food and non-food requirements of a family of five,” Felongco said.
Felongco said budgetary restraints and lack of regional resources and offices tend to hinder our efforts to facilitate RSA.
“But despite these limitations, we lobbied for these assemblies to be made a reality because we believe that the narrative of poverty in our country would be lacking without the voice of the poor,” he added.
The National Sectoral Assembly will take place in March this year in Manila.