Based on the Results of the Listahanan/NHTSPR (National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction)   Second Round Assessment, the Province of Bukidnon has the highest number of poor households.

Out of the 265,038 households assessed in the Province, 166,160 households were identified as poor.    Being the” food basket of Mindanao”, major source of income of these households comes from farming    which may account for the low and unstable income classification of the poor households identified considering that, their income may vary based on their yield or produce.

The National Household Targeting System or Listahanan was established by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to target who and where the poor are.  The comprehensive database serves as basis for selecting beneficiaries for social protection programs and services in the country.

Results from the Second Round assessment conducted in 2015 identified 485,539 poor households among the 870,198 households assessed in Northern Mindanao.

It is also the province of Bukidnon which has the highest magnitude of Indigenous People’s Group.  There are 87,824 poor households belonging to an Indigenous People’s Group or tribe.

Indigenous groups included in the province of Bukidnon are the Talaandig and the Manobo. The Visayans, particularly the Cebuanos and the Hiligaynons migrated into the province followed by various groups from Luzon, namely, the Ilocanos, Tagalogs, and merchants and wealthy businessmen from Northern Luzon like the Igorots and the Ivatans. All contributed massive acculturation among the indigenous tribes. Most of those who moved to the mountains and forest continued to hold on their ancestors’ cultural heritage. The wide variety of Filipino groups now thrives in the province and contributed immensely in the socio-economic development.

With the results of the Second Round Assessment, it is expected that Local Government Units, Non- Government Organizations, Civil Society Organizations in the region, will coordinate and collaborate in utilizing the data of poor households in identifying potential beneficiaries of their social protection programs and services through an execution of a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Second in rank is the province of Misamis Oriental with 124,737 poor households identified followed by the province of Lanao del Norte with 126,949 poor households.  Misamis Occidental has the fourth largest number of poor households with 60,156.  While Camiguin, being the only island province has the lowest number of poor households with 7,537 households identified as poor.

(Partial Results as of February 29, 2016 as validation is still ongoing for the finalization of data).

 

Written by Mitzie Sarballon-Santiago, DSWD