LEGAZPI CITY--- Some 2,643,799, or 51.1 percent of Bicolanos are living below the poverty line, according to the latest report released by the National Statistical Coordination Board regional office here.

        Under the watch of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, poverty incidence in Bicol worsened in spite of the region’s much-vaunted economic growth posted at 4.3 percent in 2008.

        The NSCB regional office here reported that Bicol was one of the five regions in the county that recorded growths higher than the national average. Unfortunately, such growth failed to trickle down to the food tables of many Bicolano families.

        In a press briefing on the ‘2008 Report on the Regional Economy of Bicol’ presented by NSCB Regional Director Gil R. Arce and Assistant Regional Director

        Engr. Luis G. Banua of the National Economic Development Board, it was revealed that at least 51 percent of the 5,109,798 total population of the region live below the poverty line.

        Banua told reporters here that the grim scenario could be attributed to the lack of employment opportunities, and the negative effects of the economic recession and natural calamities that hit the region.

        “Bicol remains poor due to the effect of natural calamities; our agricultural production was badly affected when disastrous weather hit us, aside from lack of employment opportunities as well as effects of economic downturn,” he said.

What should be done

        To counter further impoverishment of the countryside, Banua hoped that the government would expedite the implementation of the “economic resiliency plan” to boost the economy and counter the effect of global recession. 

        “Against the backdrop of a global recession, the government must accelerate the implementation of the economic resiliency plan to boost the economy. The plan includes critical and required infrastructure projects, emergency employment programs, skills development trainings and social protection benefits. The government is appealing to the private sector to help find ways to preserve jobs, maintain businesses, train people and cushion the effects of the lingering crisis,” Banua continued.

        The poverty situation in Bicol began to worsen between 2003 and 2006 during which period 38,653 more impoverised families were added to the statistics. In 2006, the total number of poor families reached 422,278, or 41.8 percent of the total number of families in the Bicol Region during that year, which was 10.1 percent higher than the 383,625 poor families registered in 2003.

        The Philippine government is one of the signatories of 191 United Nations member countries that pledged to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The target is to cut by half the number of the people suffering from hunger within the years 1990 to 2015.

        Unfortunately this target appears difficult to accomplish as there are close to three million, out of its current total population of 5 million who are living below the poverty line.

        Four out of the six provinces in Bicol registered increased poverty incidence while subsistence incidence increased in only two provinces.

        However, it was noted that Bicol as a whole considerably improved from being the poorest province in 2000 to 3rd poorest in 2003 and ranked 8th poorest province in 2006.

        Of the provinces, Camarines Norte registered improvement with its 7.7 percentage point decline in poverty incidence --- in fact, the fourth largest improvement among provinces in the country, according to the NSCB report.

        Masbate and Camarines Norte are the only two provinces in the Bicol Region that did not register an increase in poverty incidence among families and the only two provinces in the region that posted double-digit increases in the number of non-poor families. Non-poor families increased by 19.9 percent and 20.5 percent in Masbate and Camarines Norte, respectively. But still, Masbate remains among the 10 poorest provinces in the country.

        In contrast, Sorsogon posted a 9.8 percentage point increase in poverty incidence, the 7th largest increase among provinces in the country. Sorsogon now has a 43.5 poverty incidence among families. In terms of magnitude of poor families, Sorsogon had the greatest increase at 37.3 percent in 2006, while Camarines Norte’s poverty incidence declined by 12.2 percent.

        The same report showed that poverty threshold in Bicol increased by 21.3 percent -- from P12,379 in 2003 to P15,015 in 2006.

        Except for Camarines Norte and Masbate, disparity in average per capita income and poverty threshold painted a dire picture among the lower income groups of the provinces in the region.

        In Camarines Norte, poverty threshold increased by 16.7 percent, similar to the increase in the mean per capita income for all income groups. The province’s lower income groups posted greater increases in average per capita income, enough to cope with the increase in prices of basic commodities. In the same way, Masbate’s poverty threshold increased by only 13.9 percent from 2003 to 2006.

        Masbate’s mean per capita income for all income groups increased by 25 percent, more than enough to compensate for the increase in its poverty threshold. It is not surprising therefore that Camarines Norte and Masbate are among the provinces in the country with the largest improvement in poverty incidence.

        The poverty threshold also known as the poverty line refers to the annual per capita income required or the amount to be spent to satisfy basic food requirements and other non-food basic needs. The annual per capita poverty threshold in the Bicol Region in 2006 was estimated at P15,015, up by 21.3 percent from the threshold in 2003.

        The food threshold or food poverty line is the annual per capita income required or the amount to be spent to satisfy an individual’s basic food requirement.

        According to Arce, a family of five would therefore need at least P6,256.25 a month or P75,075 annually in order not to be considered poor. But this computation and income requirement for the family of five was strongly contested by the residents in this city saying that a family of five needs no less than a P20,000 monthly income to feed members of their family.

        The poor families in the Bicol Region represent 9 percent of the total poor families all over the country, the second highest share of poor families next to Region 6 (Western Visayas). This figure is 0.5 and 0.8-percentage points lower than the region’s share in 2003 and in 2000, respectively.

        The Bicol Region remains the fourth poorest region in the country in terms of poverty incidence and the second poorest in terms of number of poor families. It is also the second poorest region in the Luzon Island group.