THE cities of Mandaue and Cebu have demonstrated strong performances in basic literacy, both ranking among the top highly urbanized cities (HUCs) nationwide, according to the latest 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (Flemms) results.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released these findings on Friday, May 23, 2025, with Mandaue City recording a basic literacy rate of 95.2 percent, while Cebu City registered 94.7 percent.
These HUCs earned the fifth and eighth spots, respectively.
According to PSA, basic literacy refers to a person’s capability to read and write simple messages in any language or dialect with comprehension, as well as to carry out basic mathematical calculations.
Among HUCs nationwide, Pasay City recorded the highest basic literacy rate in the country at 96.2 percent.
The data translates to around 96 out of 100 individuals five years old and over in the city who can read, write, and compute.
Completing the top 10 HUCs with the highest basic literacy rate in the country in 2024 are the cities of Cagayan de Oro (96.1 percent), San Juan (95.50 percent), Pasig (95.50 percent), Pateros (95.1 percent), Olongapo (94.9 percent), Taguig (94.6 percent) and Makati (94.3 percent).
In the same report, findings showed that Bohol in Central Visayas ranked fifth with an impressive rate of 94.22 percent among the provinces in basic literacy across the Philippines.
Apayao emerged as the top-performing province in basic literacy nationwide with an impressive rate of 95.2 percent.
The data reveals that out of every 100 individuals aged five and above in Apayao, about 95 can read, write and perform basic mathematical operations.
Following closely behind is Benguet, excluding Baguio City, with a literacy rate of 94.9 percent.
Both Apayao and Benguet belong to the Cordillera Administrative Region, which itself posted the second-highest regional basic literacy rate in the country at 92.7 percent.
Rounding out the top 10 provinces with the highest basic literacy rates are Romblon (94.6 percent), Nueva Ecija (94.23 percent), Rizal (94.20 percent), South Cotabato, excluding General Santos City (93.7 percent), Bataan (93.64 percent), Cavite (93.56 percent) and Bulacan (93.5 percent).
All 10 provinces not only surpassed their regional averages but also exceeded the national basic literacy rate of 90.0 percent.
Functional literacy
Likewise, Siquijor and Bohol in Central Visayas registered functional literacy rates of 80 percent and 79.2 percent, respectively, placing them among the top 10 provinces with the highest functional literacy rates nationwide.
Functional literacy refers to a person’s capacity to read, write, perform basic calculations and understand what they read or write.
Beyond basic literacy, it involves more advanced comprehension abilities, such as combining multiple pieces of information and drawing conclusions from them.
Benguet, excluding Baguio City, recorded the highest rate at 87.9 percent in 2024, followed by Apayao at 86.8 percent.
Completing the list are Rizal (82.1 percent), Romblon (81.9 percent), Batangas (81.3 percent), Bataan (77.8 percent), Cavite (77.45 percent) and South Cotabato (77.43 percent), excluding General Santos City.
Meanwhile, the 10 HUCs with the highest functional literacy rate all belonged to the National Capital Region.
According to the 2019 Flemms, individuals aged 10 years and older in Central Visayas recorded a basic literacy rate of 95.8 percent, a slight decrease from 96.2 percent in 2013.
The report also indicated that Filipinos aged five and older with access to electricity had a higher basic literacy rate of 94.3 percent compared to those without immediate access (82.8 percent).
Residents of urban areas demonstrated higher literacy rates regardless of electricity access, with 95.7 percent for those with access and 92.6 percent for those without. In contrast, rural areas showed lower rates, with 91.6 percent for those with electricity access and 77 percent for those without.
In terms of educational attainment, data from Central Visayas shows that individuals who completed at least junior high school under the K-12 curriculum achieved a 100 percent basic literacy rate.
In contrast, those with no formal education or who had only completed early childhood education registered the lowest basic literacy rate at 42.5 percent.
These figures refer to Filipinos aged five years and older in Central Visayas. / DPC