BAGUIO CITY (PIA) - - The Philippine Statistics Authority -Cordillera(PSA – CAR) reported  that the number of families in Cordillera  who live  below the poverty thresholds has  decreased amidst the COVID – 19 pandemic.

PSA – CAR Chief Statistical Specialist Aldrin Federico Bahit Jr., in the data dissemination forum of the 2021 Poverty Statistics, reported that poverty incidence among families (with 5 or less members) improved to 6.9 percent in 2021  compared to the 8.6 percent in 2018.

The poverty threshold is the minimum income or expenditure of a family (up to 5 members) to meet the basic food and non-food requirement in a month and for Cordillera,  the average poverty threshold in 2021 is at P11,793.

In terms of magnitude, the PSA data shows the number of poor families in Cordillera in 2021 was  estimated at 30,740  compared to the 36,350 families recorded in 2018.

Per geographical area, the poverty incidence in Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province  decreased. Only Abra   showed an increase.

In 2021,  the poverty incidence (among families) per geographical area in Cordillera are as follows: Abra - 15.8%,  Mountain Province – 15.3%,  Benguet- 6.2%, Ifugao – 6.0%, Kalinga – 5.6%, Apayao – 4.7% and Baguio City-1.0%.

In terms of  food threshold (the minimum amount or income a family needs for their basic food requirement), the subsistence incidence in Cordillera also improved to 1.4%  which translates to 6,100 families, compared to 2.2% or around 9,400 families in 2018.

National Economic  and Development Authority – Cordillera (NEDA – CAR) Assistant Regional Director Stephanie Christiansen, in the said forum, shared  that Cordillera is among the  four regions that have the  lowest poverty incidence among families and that the region also performed better compared to the national level in almost all of the poverty indicators.

Christiansen credited the good performance of  CAR to the strong regional economy, steady employment rate, single - digit inflation, stable income,  and the government stimulus package such as the Social Amelioration Program or SAP during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To sustain and further improve  the poverty indicators in the region, she   shared that   NEDA through the Regional Development Council is set to prepare the successor medium - term Regional Development Agenda 2023 – 2028 anchored on the President’s 8 - point socio – economic agenda.

“Let us not be complacent with the good outturn. While we have decreasing poverty measures, we,  however, stride in low leaps. As public servants and private individuals, we can do more not only in economic terms. I encourage everyone to pitch   in, in any way, to uplift our families and communities noting that poverty is multi-faceted and multi – dimensional in nature,” Christiansen said.

“We encourage everyone to  address the unmet needs of poor families and communities in the region through a whole – of – nation and whole – of – systems approach,”  she added. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)