Ilocos Norte on the cusp of ‘breaking out from poverty’

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff Reporter

LAOAG CITY—The province of Ilocos Norte is about to hit the mark and become the country’s champion in terms of meeting the Millennium Development Goals target to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by 2015.

The Philippines has committed to reduce poverty incidence by 16 percent of the total population by 2015 as one of the signatories in the United Nations’ Millennium Declaration towards reducing poverty and the worst forms of human deprivation.

Based on the latest MDG scorecard of Ilocos Norte, the province has successfully achieved the national target of 16 percent poverty incidence.

As one of the pioneering users of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), the localization of MDGs in Ilocos Norte became a major process in transforming the lives of the less fortunate households in the province based on focus and need-based assessment.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) manages the NHTS-PR, a data bank and an information management system that identifies the names and specific location of the poorest of the poor in the country.

“We would like to qualify as champions of the MDG,” Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos said to DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman who visited Laoag and met with the Federated Day Care Workers Association in Region 1.

“Ang Ilocos Norte ay umabot na sa 16 percent. So, if we keep sustaining that or even making it lower, then Ilocos Norte becomes a champion of MDG. So, we need to intensify our efforts at ipakita natin na pwede at hindi imposible na babaan ang poverty incidence,” Ms. Soliman said during her visit in the province.

The DSWD secretary also assured that more livelihood assistance among others will be allotted for Ilocos Norte residents particularly to cover the 18,770 households who are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the province.