Contact Person: Babylyn B. Abulencia
Tel. No. (072) 888-2160/700-3035

E-mail: nscbregion1@yahoo.com

PR-2007-09-RO1-03

PRESS RELEASE

September 11, 2007

NSCB Releases 2003 and 2005 Ilocos Norte Poverty Maps

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Regional Division (RD) I announces the release of the poverty maps for the Province of Ilocos Norte for the years 2003 and 2005. The maps come in printed and CD-ROM format.

The poverty maps of Ilocos Norte were produced by the NSCB RD 1, in collaboration with the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte, in support to the government’s poverty alleviation program. The NSCB embarked into the poverty mapping activity to identify the poor areas in the province through the use of social and economic indicators. The maps will serve as basis of policy and decision makers in identifying what and where poverty reduction programs/projects will be implemented.

The data used in the poverty mapping in Ilocos Norte were provided by the local government units through the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) of Ilocos Norte, City Planning and Development Office of Laoag City, National Nutrition Council Regional Office I, Center for Health Development for Ilocos- Department of Health Regional Office I, Commission on Elections Regional Office I and the National Statistics Office. The initial results were validated by the LGUs through the PPDO of Ilocos Norte.

The following indicators were used in generating the poverty maps: number of underweight pre-school children, number of newborn with weight less than 2.5 kg, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, number of medical and other health workers, number of households with access to safe water supply, number of households with access to sanitary toilet facility, number of crimes against properties, number of crimes against persons, percentage of makeshift houses to total dwelling units, number of registered voters who actually voted, participation rate in public elementary schools, cohort survival rate in public elementary schools and literacy rate.

The poverty index of each municipality was computed using these indicators and the municipal indices were compared with the provincial index. The indices were plotted in maps using the Geographic information System (GIS) software.

IRENEA B. UBUNGEN

Head, NSCB Regional Division I