Through the Kapayapaan sa Pamayananan (KAPYANAN) program led by Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, which contributes to the region’s improving poverty status as noted by recent PSA data, 47-year-old widow Noraisa Edris now has a home and runs a “sari-sari store” to support her six children. (Faisal Camsa Jr./BIO)
COTABATO CITY—In a striking shift that reflects the ongoing progress of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the region has shed its label as the poorest in the Philippines.
This significant development is backed by the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2024.
The PSA’s report on poverty incidence among families in 2023 reveals that the Bangsamoro region, an emerging area, has overtaken Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), which now has the highest poverty incidence among families at 24.2 percent. In comparison, BARMM recorded a poverty incidence of 23.5 percent.
The updated report includes poverty estimates disaggregated at the regional, provincial, and highly urbanized city levels, incorporating data for the newly established Negros Island Region (NIR) for the years 2018, 2021, and 2023.
According to the PSA, “This inclusion of NIR led to the adjustment in the poverty estimates of Region VI (Western Visayas) and Region VII (Central Visayas) in 2018 and 2021 to reflect the new composition of the regions with Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur were included in the updated report.”
PSA data showed, “At the sub-national level, the National Capital Region remained the least poor among the regions with a poverty incidence among families estimated at 1.1 percent in 2023” while adding, “Out of the 18 regions, 11 recorded statistically significant decreases in poverty incidence among families in 2023 from 2021.”
The PSA explained that a family with five members needed at least P13,873 per month to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs in 2023. Among the regions, nine had poverty thresholds higher than the national average.
This poverty threshold is led by Region III (Central Luzon) with a poverty threshold of P16,046, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) at P15,713, and Region IV-A (CALABARZON) at P15,457. Conversely, Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) posted the lowest poverty threshold at P12,241.
PSA further emphasized, “Caraga showed the most notable improvement with a poverty incidence among families of 14.9 percent in 2023, a decrease of 11.0 percentage points from its poverty incidence of 25.9 percent in 2021.”
Moreover, the PSA report added that this national poverty incidence among families in 2023 was recorded at 10.9 percent, equivalent to 2.99 million Filipino families without enough income to meet their basic food and non-food needs. (Kasan Usop, Jr./BIO)
