Negros provinces among the 40 poorest

National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Noel K. Felongco recently revealed the country’s poverty rate is projected to drop to 14 percent by 2022. The current rate is 21.6 percent.

The government official said the President Rodrigo Duterte administration is currently implementing their Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayan program, which is scheduled to run until 2022, and seeks to provide informal settlers with basic services and necessities, develop infrastructure and financing mechanisms for low-income communities, secure health and general well-being for poor populations, enhance food security, along with other goals.

“The Duterte administration may look harsh against corruption and illegal drugs, but it has the concerns of the poor at heart,” he explained.

The NAPC official also touted Malasakit Centers, which serve as a one-stop shops for those seeking medical services and financial assistance.

Last September, senatorial candidate, former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, led the opening of a Malasakit Center at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.

Felongco also discussed the need for provinces to formulate local climate change action plans, particularly for the 40 poorest provinces in the country, which are also considered the most vulnerable to climate change.

“[Local government units] should act with urgency in crafting their own local climate change action plan before it is too late,” he urged.

Both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were listed among the 40 provinces believed to be the poorest and most vulnerable.

A few years ago, the Commission on Audit found both Negros provinces among the country’s richest./WDJ