THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 has reported a drop in poverty incidence among families in the region in the first semester of 2023.
In Central Visayas, poverty incidence has decreased from 26.8 percent in the first semester of 2021 to 23.9 percent in the first semester of 2023, according to DSWD 7 Director Shalaine Lucero in a press conference on June 11, 2024.
The data reported by the DSWD 7 came from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). There was no survey in the first semester of 2022.
Poverty incidence is the number of individuals with income that is less than the per capita poverty threshold divided by the total number of individuals.
The DSWD 7 also reported a decrease in the “subsistence incidence” in the region from 16.4 percent in the first semester of 2021 to 13.7 percent for the same period of 2023.
Subsistence incidence is the proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to buy even the basic food needs.
Lucero said that in 2023, the DSWD 7 spent P13.2 billion for its social protection program that served 2.3 million beneficiaries.
Report
Last December, the PSA released a report that showed that the poverty statistics incidence in Central Visayas for the first semester of 2023 was higher than the national poverty incidence of 22.4 percent.
The PSA further reported that for the first semester of 2023, out of the 17 regions in the country, Central Visayas had the highest number of impoverished individuals at 2.56 million; while Cebu led the provinces with 1.72 million impoverished individuals.
The PSA 7 figure corresponds to 10.1 percent of the 25.24 million impoverished Filipinos during that time.
Preliminary PSA results from the first visit of the 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey showed that a sizable portion of the population, about 31 percent, lived in poverty, giving Central Visayas the lead. / CDF