South Cotabato, Philippines – The Provincial Government of South Cotabato headed by Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr., records a continuous drop in the province’s poverty incidence rate based on recent data statistics.
This downward trend is reflected on the recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that the Province of South Cotabato’s poverty incidence rate reduced from 14.6% in 2021 to 13% in 2023.
According to Hazel Rhudy, Statistician II of the Research, Evaluation and Monitoring Division of the Office of the Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator, this downward trend shows the impact of the social programs in the province.
“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.
Furthermore, the downward poverty rate also coincides with the consistent upward trend of the local revenue of towns in the province of South Cotabato.
Recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows a significant increase in the income classification of Local government units in the province of South Cotabato, with no municipality under third class classification.
South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr. has reaffirmed the province’s commitment ito decreasing the poverty incidence rate in the province through establishment of strengthened social programs.
“In our province, we exhaust all efforts in decreasing the poverty rate. We are one of the first local government units to implement the LPRAP – or the Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan – this is one of our strategies to further decrease the poverty incidence rate in our province” – Governor Tamayo said.
Being the Vice-chairperson for Government Sector of the National Anti-poverty Council (NAPC), Governor Tamayo continues to magnify these projects with the goal of further decreasing the poverty incidence rate in the province before his term ends.
