Foreword | Acknowledgments | About Us

The fight against poverty has been an overarching concern of the government. A daunting task, elimination/reduction of poverty  needs statistical information to guide the government in the formulation of effective policies and programs.

Current official poverty statistics in Philippines seek to measure poverty in absolute terms with focus on the headcount index as an indicator. To supplement this measure, poverty gap and income gap are likewise estimated using family income data from the triennial Family Income and Expenditures Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office. Poverty incidence, poverty and income gaps are computed at the national and regional levels with urban-rural disaggregations.

Aside from the official poverty statistics generated by the NSCB, several agencies compile poverty-related statistics as part of their mandates or as by-products in the implementation of their mandated functions. Local governments, on the other hand compile poverty related statistics particularly in relation to the Minimum Basic Needs. Several studies have likewise been undertaken by individual researchers in search of indicators for poverty targeting.  Despite the availability of a host of poverty-related statistics and studies however, there is no comprehensive poverty map that can be used to locate the poor and describe their conditions.

It is in this light that a poverty mapping methodology has been developed by the NSCB under its locally-funded project, the Philippine Statistical System Data and Service Improvement Project (Re-engineering the Government Statistical System, Phase II). The methodology has been pilot-tested in the provinces of Laguna and Albay in 2002. The activity has since then been expanded to cover the 40 poorest provinces in the country based on the 2000 Poverty Estimates. This initiative hopes to provide a tool that can be used by policy makers and development planners, particularly at the local government level, in fine tuning poverty alleviation interventions.

 

ROMULO A. VIROLA
Secretary General
 

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