Pangasinan is Region I’s poorest province
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
MABINI– If you think Pangasinan is the most affluent and productive province, think again!
Pangasinan may be the biggest in terms of land area and population within the Ilocos Region, but it remains the poorest province in the entire region.
Based on the family threshold survey conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in 2006, the province, one of the top rice producers, is fact, among the 20 poorest provinces in the country.
The results of the survey, called the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), was the basis of DSWD in identifying the towns of Mabini, Bolinao, Urbiztondo and Aguilar as among the poorest of the poor and should benefit from the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP).
Marlyn Peralta, assistant regional director of DSWD in Region 1, explained that the PPP is a poverty reduction strategy that provides grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged zero to 14.
The program targets 300,000 households throughout the country.
These beneficiary-households will receive cash grants of P6,000 a year or P500 per month per household for health and nutrition expenses; and P3,000 for one school year or 10 months of P300 per month per child for their educational expenses.
The educational expenses are limited up to the third child of school age per family.
Peralta said DSWD is just starting the PPP in the four Pangasinan municipalities but she expressed hope that this will also be expanded in others towns of the other provinces in the region.
The PPP is being undertaken in coordination with the Department of Education, Department of Health and the local government units
Peralta said other agencies are being encouraged to get involved in the program since it takes a holistic approach to conquer poverty.—LM
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
