The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has not only affected the Filipinos' health but also their wealth as it pushed more than four million individuals deeper into poverty, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) said.
Citing the recent report of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the POPCOM said that 4.3 million Filipinos, or about 861,300 families, sank below the poverty threshold in regions that have 90 percent COVID-19 related deaths as of September 2021.
"Families in Central Luzon were most affected by the increase in the poverty threshold, with an additional 190,900 or 46 percent, who became poorer in the last three years," POPCOM Executive Director Juan A. Perez III said.
"The increase of poverty was also felt in Central Visayas, as 173,500 families languished below the poverty threshold in three years," he added.
However, in the same report, Perez noted that living conditions improved in five regions that were least affected by the contagion or those with 8.1 percent of deaths in 2021. These include 809,500 Filipinos or some 161,900 families.
Based on the report, the bulk of families elevated from poverty were from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Basilan raised 121,000 out of economic strain. However, poverty rose for 28,300 families in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
In Lanao del Sur, poverty reduction was at 57 percent, from 68 percent of families to 11 percent, which vastly improved the quality of living for more than 500,000 Filipinos there from 2018 to 2021.
The province also transitioned from having the highest number of poor families three years ago to the ninth with the least number.
"The rate of poverty reduction is nothing short of spectacular in Lanao del Sur, as this occurred during combined national health and economic crisis. The fact that the province is in a region least affected by COVID-19 contributed greatly to the outcome," Perez explained.
The Population and Development (POPDEV) undersecretary added that Sulu now holds the record for having the largest percentage of families at 71.9 percent, or 111,200, living below the poverty threshold.
But in terms of absolute numbers, POPCOM said that Cebu province has the most number of poor families at 276,900; followed by Negros Occidental (166,000); Camarines Sur (152,300); Pangasinan (138,600); Bulacan (132,000); and Zamboanga del Norte (131,200).
Regional economies with the most number of pandemic-plagued areas also showed increases in their poverty threshold—well above their poverty levels in 2018—and exhibited the collateral effects of the pandemic.
Those which reflected increases in poverty threshold above their 2018 poverty levels, as well as their COVID-19-related deaths from January to September 2021, are as follows: Central Luzon (+ P3,250; 9,001 deaths), Ilocos: (+ P2,633; 1,891 deaths), National Capital Region: (+ P2,523; 14,218 deaths), Central Visayas: (+ P2,450; 1,622 deaths), Cagayan Valley (+ P2,044; 1,824 deaths), CALABARZON: (+ P1,935; 10,386 deaths), and Bicol: (+ P1,898; 1,141 deaths).