ILOKANO RESILIENCE CREDITED FOR LOW POVERTY RATE IN ILOCOS NORTE

September 7, 2024 Provincial

LAOAG CITY – Ilokanos’ resilience, Ilocos Norte governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc said, prompted the low poverty rate in the province. “Ito pong poverty rate natin ay testament sa ating kakailian (provincemates) sa Ilocos [Norte] at sa buong mundo. It’s a huge credit sa ating mga kakailian na napakasipag at always finding a way, ‘yan ang resilience ng mga Ilokano,” the governor said, citing the August 15, 2024 Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report that Ilocos Norte has the lowest poverty incidence rate among families, at 0.3%, and among the population, at 0.5%, the lowest poverty incidences in the  provincial category recorded

throughout the country for 2023. According to PSA, poverty incidence is the percentage of people in a population who earn less than the minimum amount needed to meet basic living needs. Poverty threshold and income are the main factors of PSA in measuring incidence rates. Income from various sources, including wages and salaries, entrepreneurial activities, cash receipts from abroad and domestic sources, and those received as gifts are considered in the assessment.

Employment and livelihood-opportunity projects and programs being implemented by the provincial government, like “Mataginaginayon the a Progreso,” “Agri ka Dito,” “Naruay a Pangedan Job Fairs,” and “IN na Kabuhayan Livelihood Program,” among others, are some of the initiatives undertaken to support the people, especially those in the marginalized sector fighting against poverty. While Manotoc takes pride in this achievement, he assured to remain relentless in ensuring that the poverty statistics reflect the reality of the everyday lives of Ilokanos.

Though he acknowledged that “brain drain” remains to be a challenge in Ilcoos Norte that that provincial government needs to continue addressing, saying: “Ang malaking krisis po natin is brain drain, many of our best and highly educated kakailian leave and yun po yung malaking layunin [natin], on how to keep our people here [in Ilocos Norte].” Gov. Marcos Manotoc reiterated that offering more income-generat ing opportunities, increasing the number of desirable jobs, inviting more investors, and improving the quality of life in Ilocos Norte are needed to address this issue.

Recently, he led the provincial government investment conference, organized by the Ilocos Norte Trade and Investment Center, in Taguig City and met with prominent business owners and representatives to discuss potential investment and livelihood opportunities in his province. Manotoc vowed he will continuously working with various private and public sectors, national government agencies, and local and international businesses to meet the increasing demands of the people, fight poverty, and provide the best quality of life every Ilokano family deserves.

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN