Skip to main content

Ilocos Norte is least poor province in Region 1

By
Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos during a Capitol Express event in Dingras, Ilocos Norte (PGIN photo)

 By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter

With aggressive programs focusing on poverty alleviation, the province of Ilocos Norte reached the lowest poverty incidence rate in Region 1 at 15% in 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report.

PSA defines poverty incidence as the proportion of families (or population) with per capita income less than the per capita poverty threshold to the total number of families (or population).

Alejandro Rapacon, PSA-Laoag City officer-in-charge said the latest report could be attributed to dollar remittances sent to families back home by Ilocano overseas workers and immigrants, more local jobs generated by the province’s booming tourism industry and strong political will from government officials to promote investment and job generation here.

“I am proudest of our poverty reduction program but I will continue to work to improve the lot of the remaining 15% poor,” beamed Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos who welcomed this figure in light of her recent recognition as one of Superbrands Marketing International’s Outstanding Governorship Awardees.

According to PSA, Ilocos Norte has been “consistently included in the least poor cluster of provinces in the first semester of 2012 and 2015.

“The remittances from other countries, more local jobs generated by our booming tourism sector, opening of BPO companies and political will of our elected officials made Ilocos Norte the least poor province in the region,” said Mr. Rapacon. 

In 2010, Ms. Marcos’ administration faced the challenges of soaring poverty and unemployment rates in which she employed massive transformation efforts in the province.

On top of her priority development agenda is poverty reduction, which gave birth to “Manang Imee’s Capitol Express”, a one-stop shop outreach program bringing government services closer to home. As part of the scheme, people of Ilocos Norte need not to go to the Provincial Capitol to avail its services but a team from the Capitol offering various programs on agriculture, health, education, jobs and livelihood, among others reach out to all Ilocanos in every municipality or village.

As a result, Ilocos Norte has also exceeded poverty, employment, education maternal health and reforestation in line with the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations Development Programme, citing the significant decrease of 24% poverty rate in 2010.

Describing education as the “traditional pathway out of poverty,” Ms. Marcos also noted that the heavy and continuous investment in education in the province is beneficial to the lowering of the overall poverty incidence rate of Ilocos Norte.

With this, more than 3,000 young Ilocanos across the province have availed of the scholarship grants offered by the provincial government.


“Walang maiiwan sa pag-unlad,” vowed Ms. Marcos as she said she is determined to continue the overall development and progress of the province on her third and final term as governor of Ilocos Norte.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By
By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...
9 comments
Read more

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

By
 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel...
Post a Comment
Read more

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

By
BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi...
Post a Comment
Read more