City of Koronadal, South Cotabato – South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr., sights a much lower poverty incidence rate after his 9-year term as Governor of the Province of South Cotabato.
Citing the decrease from the 24% percent incidence rate of the province last 2018 down to 13% in 2023, Governor Tamayo hopes to further bring down the poverty incidence rate in the province to a single digit as the Philippine Statistics Authority is expected to release the data from the 2025 Family Income and Expenditure Survey this August 2026.
According to Governor Tamayo, the downward trend is the result of the collective efforts of South Cotabateños and the unity of various provincial government offices in lowering the poverty rate in the province.
“Alam niyo, ang patuloy na pagbaba ng ating poverty rate sa probinsya ay resulta lamang ng maayos na pagtutulongan at unity ng mga South Cotabateños para mabawasan pa natin ang percentage ng poverty sa probinsya.” – Tamayo said in his speech.
Furthermore, Tamayo also highlighted the province’s long-term plan in addressing the poverty incidence rate citing the need to address the 5 fundamental rights of the poor and middle classes: Right to Adequate Food, Right to Decent Work, Right to relevant and Quality Education, Right to adequate Housing, and right to the highest attainable standard of health.
Governor Tamayo’s program on Free Education and Free Hospitalization aims to address the continuous decrease in the province’s poverty incidence rate as the province’s various programs continue to address the 5 fundamental rights of the poor and middle classes.
Furthermore, Hazel Rhudy, Statistician II, of the Office of the Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator stated that the continuous decrease of the province’s incidence rate is a result of the working social programs of the provincial government of South Cotabato.
“Our data shows that our programs here in our province, especially the social programs, are working – our strategies in reducing poverty are effective in coping and in stimulating the economy” – Rhudy said in an interview.
The Province of South Cotabato has been one of the first provinces in the country to implement a Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan to further bring down the poverty rate in the province.
As vice-chairperson for Government Sector of the National Anti-poverty Commission, Governor Tamayo continues to magnify these projects with the goal of further decreasing the poverty incidence rate in the province before his term ends.
