Davao is ‘least poor’ city in Mindanao
Estrella Turingan, head of NSCB-11, said Wednesday at the regular Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao that the statistics are based on the 2009 Small Area Estimates (SAE) of poverty by the World Bank and the NSCB. The data used for the SAE were from the results of the 2009 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) of the National Statistics Office (NSO).
She pointed out that the NSCB matched the 2009 FIES results to the poverty threshold – which is “the minimum income required to meet the food requirements and other non-food basic needs” – to get the number of poor people in the region.[]
The survey, she continued, included all expenditures of an individual such as medical, education, transportation and housing needs, among others.[]
For Davao Region, the poverty threshold in 2009 was at P17,040 per capita, or P85,198 for a family of five per year.
Following Davao City as least poor cities and municipalities are Padada in Davao del Sur, Panabo and Tagum in Davao del Norte, Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat, Digos in Davao del Sur, Kidapawan in North Cotabato, Marantao in Lanao del Sur, Zamboanga City, and Lamitan City in Basilan.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Siayan in Zamboanga del Norte had the highest incidence of poverty among cities/municipalities in Mindanao at 79.9 percent, which means only 20 of 100 individuals in Siayan are not poor.
Siayan was followed by Baliguian in Zamboanga del Sur, Jose Abad Santos and Sarangani in Davao del Sur, Godod and Gutalac in Zamboanga del Norte, Pandag in Maguindanao, Tagoloan in Lanao del Norte, Mabuhay in Zamboanga Sibugay, and Manukan in Zamboanga del Norte. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro / MindaNews)
