By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A total of 536,829 households in Western Visayas (WV) are categorized as poor, based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 6 (DSWD-6).

Arwin Razo, DSWD-6 Assistant Regional Director, said that a total of 1,394,251 households in the region were assessed through house-to-house interviews for the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, an information system which identifies who and where the poor households are in the region.

“This is equivalent to 38.5 percent of the total households assessed in the entire region, with the corresponding identified poor individuals at 2.8 million,” Razo said.

Negros Occidental has the highest number of poor households with 268,530, followed by Iloilo (150,793), Antique (41,101), Aklan (36,784), Capiz (30,754), and Guimaras (8,867).

Of the total number, Razo said that 35 percent of the identified poor households are living in urban areas across the region.

“This somehow indicates that poverty in Western Visayas is characterized by rural poverty,” he said.

In terms of housing conditions, he reported that 35.68 percent of the total households dwell in houses made of light materials.

Meanwhile, 18.2 percent use unsanitary toilet facilities, and 42.8 percent of them have no access to a safe water source, with the majority dependent on shared deep wells.

In terms of employment or occupation, 303,934 (10.5 percent) poor individuals in the region are in animal production; 227,443 (7.8 percent) are in the formal sector; 157,394 (5.4 percent) are self-employed; and 59,336 (two percent) are fisherfolks.

Razo pointed out that the profile presented is very useful for local government units and agencies in planning and funding their health and sanitation programs and services.

The DSWD-6 is mandated to update the Listahanan database every four years./DGB, WDJ