Villar urges government to invest in rural infrastructure

The government must invest heavily in rural infrastructure and other farm support services in order for the country to win the war against poverty, former Speaker Manny Villar said yesterday.

Villar pointed out that setting up needed infrastructure will help improve agricultural productivity and ease the flow of goods from rural to urban areas toward improving the quality of life in rural communities.

"The vast majority of poor Filipinos reside in rural areas, thus the need to concentrate on developing rural communities to effectively curb mass poverty," said Villar.

Poverty incidence in the Philippines is at over 30 percent, averaging 29 percent in urban areas and a high 54 percent in rural territories. While Metro Manila, the country’s most urbanized areas has only 14 percent poverty incidence, predominantly rural areas in Mindanao, Bicol, Samar, and Cagayan Valley have more than 60 percent of their households earning less than the poverty income.

"Government must continue to pour needed resources to construct farm to market roads, irrigation and post harvest facilities so that we will lay the groundwork for the development of rural areas," said Villar. "No one must be left behind as the country moves forward," he added.