TACLOBAN CITY — From being the 4th poorest province in 2015, Northern Samar has gained a momentous improvement by wiggling out of the Top 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines.
In a radio interview of the Philippine Information Agency Northern Samar, Engr. Romeo Cardenas, provincial planning and development officer, said the province recorded 61.6 percent poverty incidence among its population in 2015.
This has significantly dropped to 31 percent in 2021 based on the official poverty statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority and is now ranked 32nd among 81 provinces in the country.
The report suggests that 69 percent of the population had incomes sufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs, which is a significant increase from 63.4 percent in the first semester in 2018.
It also notes that 76.9 percent of the families were able to meet their basic food and non-food needs compared to 70 percent in the same period three years ago.
This, even as the per capita poverty threshold increased from P12,662 in the first semester of 2018 to p13,173 in the first semester of 2021.
Among the six provinces in the region, Northern Samar was the second least poor, climbing two notches higher from its position in the First Semester of 2018, and four steps up in the same period in 2015.
Compared to the other provinces in the region, Northern Samar ranked first in terms of the proportion of the population and of families whose incomes were enough for their basic food needs, leaping from the third position in the first semester of 2018 and the sixth in the same period in 2015.
He attributed the development to the decrease in poverty incidence in their province: fewer natural disasters, infrastructure investments, and good governance led by Governor Edwin Ongchuan.
He disclosed that since 2016, the provincial government has pumped prime the economy, investment, and infrastructure, aside from the assistance of the national government.
According to the governor, the good news further motivates the provincial government and the 24 municipalities to proceed with programs and projects that would get more people above the poverty line.
"With the support and cooperation of all Nortehanons in the last three years, before and amid this pandemic, we pursued ambitious and innovative development strategies at the provincial government. And now, we deliver on our promise," he said.