40 out of 100 considered poor

PSA exec urged officials to help fight EV’s poverty incidence

TACLOBAN CITY-With poverty incidence of the region remaining among the country’s highest, an official of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) urged local officials to find ways to improve their respective economic conditions.
Based on the report of the PSA-8, as of the first semester of 2015, the poverty incidence of the region reached 39.3 percent or almost 40 families are considered poor out of 100 families.
The poverty incidence of Eastern Visayas is slightly better than ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) which has poverty incidence of 59 percent.
“The use of the statistics is a signal for our policy makers like our governors, mayors and congressmen… to plan properly (to address) poverty,” Wilma Perante, PSA regional head said during a press conference at the Philippine Information Agency on Thursday.
“We need to sustain (the growth of our) economy. If we cannot sustain the economy, we cannot solve poverty,” she added.
Of the six provinces of the region, Northern Samar posted the highest poverty incidence at 52.4 percent followed by Samar at 41.8 percent and Eastern Samar at 40.1 percent.
Leyte, meantime, registered its poverty incidence at 39.1 percent which was higher compared to the 31.9 percent in the 2012 survey. Leyte is considered the hardest-hit province due to Yolanda.
Meantime, Southern Leyte posted a 30.4 percent poverty incidence while Biliran, the smallest province of the region, had the lowest poverty incidence at 15.2 percent.
The PSA put the poverty threshold of the region at P11, 102 per capita.
Poverty threshold or poverty line is the minimum level of income required for a family to meet the basic and non-basic needs.
Perante said that the current P260 daily minimum wage of the region is only enough to feed three people in a family.
“If you are receiving the minimum wage and you have more than three in a family, that means you belong to the poor,” she said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte’s gains in global employment competitiveness and business investments were cited during an industry forum hosted by the provincial government.
In his message, Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said the industry forum has provided greater collaborative linkages between the academe, the industry and the government in creating an effective program that will match requirements with available supply of graduates or skilled workers from different educational institutions currently needed by the industry.
“More importantly, it has opened doors for the province to be a competitive link in the supply chain as well as a business destination,” Petilla said during his speech at the forum held on Thursday (Sept.29) at the provincial capitol building.
Jescyn Kate Ramos, unit head of the Leyte Tourism and Investment Promotion Center (LTIPC), said the event originally aims to establish a tie-up between schools and industries particularly on how the school curriculum can be refined to the modern technology requirements of the industries.
However, the forum, now on its 10th year, has also brought industries and partnerships that help local businessmen.
Ramos, among others, identified the accomplishments out of the holding of the forum the following: introduction of new businesses such as Oishi and Gardenia and the signing of a memorandum of agreement between Max’s Group of Companies with the Leyte Federation of High Value Crops and Vegetables where the latter will supply the former with their needed farm produce.
Also pointed out as an important impact of the program was that state universities and colleges in the province have developed programs that suits manpower requirements; faculty-student immersion such as the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Corporation; academic linkages and provision of IT equipment.
Among the speakers during the two- day event were top honchos of The Oriental Hotels Resorts, Maxim Integrated Philippines, Applied Machining Corporation, Palafox Associates, Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation and Costales Farm Tourism Philippines of Majayjay, Laguna. (AHLETTE C. REYES)