More poor families in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — Despite being the richest province in the Philippines in 2017, Cebu has the most number of poor households in Region 7, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said.

Using the Proxy Means Test, DSWD’s Listahanan program identified 49 percent or 286,814 of 591,329 households as poor.

The Proxy Means Test assesses the observable and verifiable indicators of poverty.

"Gi-assess nato diha ang ilahang housing condition, access to portable water, educational attainment, sanitary toilet, and other observable and verifiable indicators," said Listahanan Regional Field Coordinator Hillton Edral.

The result of the Proxy Means Test and the household’s estimated income would then be compared to the Provincial Poverty Threshold, which is P21,740 (per capita income).

If the estimated income of a household with five members is lower than the PPT, the household is considered poor.

As of 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated the population in Cebu at 2,938,982 with 669,322 households.

In October this year, the Commission on Audit identified Cebu as the richest province in the country with total assets of P32.43 billion.

Meanwhile, Negros Oriental has the highest household poverty percentage at 57 percent in Region 7 with 140,496 of 244,758 households considered poor.

In Bohol, 100,691 of 448,246 households are poor while in Siquijor, 6,432 of 20,501 households did not reach the threshold.

Listahanan is a program of DSWD created to identify areas in the Philippines with poor households. It is from this list that other government agencies base their social protection and poverty reduction programs. - John Kendrick P. Ceciban USJ-R Intern, JMO (FREEMAN)