MindanaoToday.com | LGUs’ input emphasized to reduce poverty incidence in Northern Mindanao
By: Franck Dick Rosete
Local government units (LGUs) in Northern Mindanao must ensure basic infrastructure to be able to encourage further investors, as creating more jobs and quality jobs for the people is needed to reduce the poverty incidence in the region.
Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño, director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-Region 10, made the remarks as the region is aiming to reduce its poverty incidence among the population by 15.0 to 17.0 percent by 2028.
Apart from basic infrastructures such as electricity, water, internet, and roads, Cariño said the business environment of the LGUs should be conducive for investments to come, and they should check their licensing and business registration to make sure that they are business-friendly.
“If you want to invite more investments, you must ensure that there’s a place for these investors in terms of your land use,” Cariño, who is also the vice chairperson of the Regional Development Council-10, said during the 2nd Semester 2023 Northern Mindanao Socioeconomic Forum on December 13.
Luckily, the region has 12 infrastructure flagship projects, which is the highest in Mindanao, and the NEDA-10 top official said these projects are significant in encouraging investments to come.
In 2018, the region had the most substantial reduction in poverty, as 684,000 Filipinos in Northern Mindanao were lifted out of poverty, which is higher compared to the target of 500,000.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic-induced losses and the increase in the inflation rate, data showed that poverty incidence in the region among the population rose to 26.1 percent in 2021 from 23.1 percent in 2018, while poverty incidence among families increased to 19.2 percent in 2021 from 17.3 percent in 2018.
These made Northern Mindanao rank 8th among the regions in the country with the highest poverty incidence in 2021, according to NEDA-10.
This also showed in the regional economy, where -5.3 percent was recorded in 2020 from 7.1 percent in 2018 and 5.6 percent in 2019. However, in 2021, the region’s economy grew to 6.3 percent and further increased to 7.2 percent in 2022.
Aside from providing more jobs, the agency also promotes innovation, as it wants people to also be job creators.
But Cariño explained that reducing poverty is a whole-society, whole-government, and multisectoral approach. “All of us should work together,” she added.
Apart from reducing unemployment and underemployment rates, Northern Mindanao also aims to grow its economy by 6.5 to 8.0 percent annually from 2025 until 2028 in terms of the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).
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