Samar towns among poorest municipalities in E. Visayas - NSCB

<strong>Samar</strong> <strong>towns</strong> <strong>among</strong> <strong>poorest</strong> <strong>municipalities</strong> <strong>in</strong>E. <strong>Visayas</strong>READ 5TACLOBAN CITY – Municipalities from three <strong>Samar</strong> prov<strong>in</strong>ces constitute the top10 <strong>poorest</strong> <strong>towns</strong> <strong>in</strong> Eastern <strong>Visayas</strong>, the National Statistical Coord<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>gBoard(<strong>NSCB</strong>) said cit<strong>in</strong>g a recently released analysis culled out from a 2009 survey.Half of the top 10 <strong>poorest</strong> areas are located <strong>in</strong> Northern <strong>Samar</strong>, three from Eastern<strong>Samar</strong>, and two from <strong>Samar</strong>.NSB regional head Evangel<strong>in</strong>e Paran said that <strong>towns</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Samar</strong> Island have beenconsistently on the list of economically-depressed areas <strong>in</strong> the region send<strong>in</strong>g signalfor the government to give more attention <strong>in</strong> these prov<strong>in</strong>ces.Silv<strong>in</strong>o Lobos town <strong>in</strong> Northern <strong>Samar</strong> is the region’s <strong>poorest</strong> municipality with 65%of the population has an <strong>in</strong>come <strong>in</strong>sufficient to provide basic needs of families.Other areas on the top 10 <strong>poorest</strong> are (with correspond<strong>in</strong>g poverty <strong>in</strong>cidence) Jipapad,Eastern <strong>Samar</strong> (60.6%); Maslog, Eastern <strong>Samar</strong> (60.2%); Mapanas, Northe rn <strong>Samar</strong>(58.4%); Lope de Vega, Northern <strong>Samar</strong> (58.2%); San Jose de Buan, <strong>Samar</strong> (57.8%);Matugu<strong>in</strong>ao, <strong>Samar</strong> (57.5%); Las Navas, Northern <strong>Samar</strong> (57.1%); Arteche, Eastern<strong>Samar</strong> (55.8%); and Catubig, Northern <strong>Samar</strong> (52.8%).Paran said that Tacloban City emerged as the least poor area with a poverty <strong>in</strong>cidenceof only 20.5%. This was followed by Tunga and Isabel, both <strong>in</strong> Leyte with 23.1% and23.7% poverty rates, respectively. Of the top 10 least poor areas, seven came fromLeyte and three from Biliran prov<strong>in</strong>ce.<strong>NSCB</strong> came up with the city and municipal level poverty statistics us<strong>in</strong>g the latestdata available such as the 2009 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), 2009Labor Force Survey (LFS), and 2007 Census of Population (PopCen) of NSO.Estimates were generated through a fund<strong>in</strong>g support from the World Bank andAustralian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The last estimates wereculled out from 2003 surveys.

“Small area poverty estimates is not a regular activity,” Paran said. “This is part of thecont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g effort of <strong>NSCB</strong> and the Philipp<strong>in</strong>e Statistical System to be more relevantand to respond to the clamor for updated poverty statistics at the local level.”Paran urged local government units to exam<strong>in</strong>e if there has been an improvement ofeconomic situation between 2003 to 2009. (Sarwell Q. Meniano)