BAGUIO CITY (PIA)- -The National Anti – Poverty Commission (NAPC) conducted regional orientation and local data generation workshop on the Magna Carta of the Poor for Cordillera stakeholders in line with the crafting of the National Poverty Reduction Plan.

The NAPC hosted the activity for representatives from Cordillera provinces and Baguio City in March 21 and 22, and representatives from regional line agencies in March 22 – 23 at City Travel Hotel, here.

NAPC Cordillera Focal Person Noriel Miguel said the orientation and local data generation workshop which are being conducted in the different regions, are vital component of the drafting of the National Poverty Reduction Plan that is mandated under the Republic Act No.  11291 or the Magna Carta of the Poor.  

RA 11291 was approved on April 12, 2019 by then President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Its Implementing Rules and Regulation was approved on August 31, 2021.

The crafting of the National Poverty Reduction Plan is   vital to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s socio – economic agenda to reduce poverty incidence in the country from the 2021 figure of 18.1 percent, to 9 percent by 2028, as he mentioned in his first State of the Nation Address, the NAPC emphasized.    

Resource persons provided overview of Republic Act 8425 Institutionalizing the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Program, creating for the purpose the NAPC, defining its powers and functions, and for other purposes., as well as the salient features of the Magna Carta of the Poor.   

Philippine Statistics Authority - CAR Chief Statistical Specialist Aldrin Federico Bahit Jr. and Information Officer Rick Jason Aquino also presented Cordillera’s poverty statistics.

For CAR, the region is doing well in terms of the poverty reduction goal with an average of 9.9 percent poverty incidence in 2021 as per PSA data. Only Mountain Province and Abra registered a higher poverty incidence rate than the national and regional average with 22.2 and 21.5 percent, respectively.

The participants were also engaged in a workshop for the generation of Programs, Projects and Activities, Gaps and recommendation vis a vis the five fundamental rights of the poor namely Right to Adequate Food, Right to Decent Work, Right to Relevant and Quality Education, Right to Adequate Housing, and Right to Highest Attainable Standards of Health. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)